Metamorphosis
by smilinginthedark
Summary: Damon is back and he is as pleasant as ever. Mentally distraught and emotionally chaotic in result from watching Bonnie sacrifice herself for him Damon attempts to continue his life without her. What Damon doesn't know is that Bonnie's heart alive and she's trapped on The Other Side w/ their favorite charismatic sociopath, Kai Parker. Bonnie and Damon must battle their own demons.
1. The More You Ignore Me, The Close I Get

Damon was staring into the fireplace dueling his demons in silence, he watched the flames flicker and burn bright much like the rage he's been trying to subdue. He was aware that his brother, was observing him intently, still sure that he would disappear as quickly as he came.

"Stefan can you stop being a creep." Damon said patting the seat next to him on the couch, yes he would rather drown in alcohol and despair alone but he did miss his little brother.

"Sorry," Stefan apologized and took a seat next to him; and gently patted his brother on the back mainly to make sure that he was indeed real and still there.

"Stefan quit poking me every 5 seconds, I told you I'm real."

"We'll see about that when Alaric comes." Damon scoffs but he gets it, it was hard to believe that he was really back he was having a hard time interpreting it himself. Especially at the expense that came with him being here.

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are."_ Echoed through his mind like an eerie scream in a cave. He finished his glass of bourbon and turned towards his younger brother.

"Whatever makes you feel better, but I can assure you I'm 100% real." Stefan smiled at him he couldn't help it he had his older brother back, but he wondered how. He was trying to find the right the way to word the question because it looked like Damon was adamant on not giving any answers.

"So would you like to tell me what's this incredible surprise? That will apparently prevent me from kicking your ass." Alaric said stepping through the front door of his apartment, until he froze.

"Damon… this can't be possible." He choked out, questioning his sanity immediately. Stefan on the other hand felt a sense of relief, because he was not the only one who could see him. Damon stood and turned to face his best friend with wary eyes.

"Oh but it is." He said giving him a small smirk.

"What but how?" Alaric asked still trying to comprehend what his eyes were showing him.

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are."_

"The how doesn't matter buddy, what matters is that I'm here." Damon walks up to him and smiles, and then Alaric embraces him. Damon acknowledged the warmth and deepened the hug much like he did with his brother. He attempted to retain the warmth and joy he felt from seeing both his brother and best friend, but he couldn't because his mind was clouded with thoughts, thoughts of her. So the joy and the warmth are quite brief but he dwells in it anyway.

"So I see that nothing has changed, you still reek of bourbon." Alaric cringed breaking their embrace, with a grin on his face but inside he felt his vampire life gain some normality, his best friend was back.

"Well you happen to have an impressive collection." Damon was stunned Alaric had all his favorites; almost as if he were expecting his return.

"You taught me well." Alaric said after he poured himself a glass with an intent eye on his buddy. Damon took the bottle and poured him and his brother a glass as well.

"I did indeed." He handed his brother the glass and he didn't refuse it, although bourbon wasn't Stefan's drink of choice he had been getting use to it as of late. Damon could sense the tension between the other two and decided to plop his ass down on what happened to be a quite comfy armchair.

He sipped his bourbon, he knew there was a lot to spill the beans about because it's Mystic Falls and it wouldn't be Mystic Falls if things weren't constantly falling apart.

"So tell me what have I missed?"

She was dead she was sure of it; there was no way she could have survived the arrow. But yet she was quite aware of her harsh breathing and the pain bursting from her midriff. She managed to open her eyes, only to find that she was indeed still in the cave. Of course she didn't die that would have been way to easy, and nothing in her life was ever easy.

"Look who finally decided to wake up." She turned her head to find Kai sitting on a boulder; great know she had to deal with him too. She tried to move but the pain was too much for her small body to handle. Kai watched her; he himself wasn't in the jolliest of moods seeing how he had lost his one chance out of this god-forsaken prison. In fact he was a little pale and his hair was frazzled from him having tried to yank it out, Bonnie took note of this.

"You know you've been out for awhile now and I just keep on thinking about what you did earlier. And all I can say is how could you have possibly been so stupid!" He finished in a fit of anger; he was closer to her now.

"I wouldn't have expected you to understand." Bonnie stated as her head met the cold stone ground of the cave, she wasn't planning on getting up any time soon, or ever.

"You're right I would never be able to understand the **idiocracy** I witnessed, today." Bonnie was sick of the sound of his voice.

"Great, now can you let me die in peace." She asked all she wanted was to be left alone. She knew all to well what she gave away, her only ticket out of here and yet she could not bring herself to feel regret. She was glad she sent Damon, because she might not have made it but he did and he would get a chance to live again.

"You know I thought about letting you bleed out here, and letting you die alone. But I decided against it one, because it wouldn't be any fun to let your death go to waste. And two because it's only fair you live out the rest of your miserable existence, in hell with me." His face now inches away from hers.

"What?" Was all she could manage to get out.

"Let me clarify, you don't get to die today or ever for that matter." He said with finality as he began to lift her into her arms, and carry her. She didn't like this one bit, she would much rather die than spend an eternity locked here with Kai.

When the sunlight hit her she instantly covered her eyes but Kai seemed unphased. She watched him how his eyes were sharp ahead, there was something unplaced underneath his exterior. She knew he was mad but somehow he managed to look broken and resolute. She knew then that he would save her but she didn't want to be saved, not by him anyways. She let him carry her to the outskirts of the woods where she had remembered Damon had left his Camaro.

"Put me down." He just snorted in reply not taking her seriously.

"I said put me down!" Bonnie mustered all the strength she could find because she needed it if she expected the ludicrous plan she had conceived in the last 5 seconds to work. Suddenly Kai looked at her and his face was unreadable but he slowly put her down. She managed to keep herself standing, but she knew that she was going to have to be able to do more than that if her escape plan was going to work. She started to move one foot in front of the other, and Kai watched her.

"What exactly is you're plan, to hobble away." Kai laughed at her sad attempt to "run". But Bonnie could see Damon's car in the distance, and she had never been happier to spot that stupid baby blue Camaro.

"No." She turned around and stared at him, he had her backpack and it was strapped on to him but she needed it. So she focused on a rather large stick with a pointy end fairly close to where Kai stood, then grinned.

"Motis" The stick then pierced his heart, and he dropped to the ground. She grabbed her backpack and hustled towards Damon's car, she knew he had only a short amount of time before he rose from the dead. When she made it to the car, she could kiss Damon for leaving the keys in the ignition. She dragged herself in and started the engine, there was a vast difference in height between Bonnie and Damon so she could barely reach the gas pedal. But from afar she saw that Kai had begun to stir, so she slammed her foot on the gas and zoomed the hell out of there.

"So Mystic Falls is supernatural free." Damon said not even bothering to ask because that's what he and Bonnie had figured. And apparently there was a vampire hunter out on the loose; hell-bent on ending the vampire race but just so happens to be friendly with his brother. Stefan and Alaric seemed to be trying to occupy him with trivial things, meanwhile mentally fighting each other. Damon chose to ignore it because his sorrow though still strong was numbing, after downing a two whole bottle of 100% pure alcohol Kentucky bourbon. Yes he could say he felt a bit better now that his mind was scattered, he could feel a buzz coming on.

"Look as much as I would love to discuss the always impending problems of Mystic Falls, I plan on seeing my girl tonight." Damon wanted to see her now, because he was sure she would be the only person who could relinquish the anguish that weighed so heavily over his dead heart. But he noticed the look Alaric and Stefan shared in silence, a look of pity and discomfort.

"What now?" He whined.

"About Elena…" Stefan began as Alaric stared at him; an instant fear crept up into Damon.

"Tell me she's ok!" Damon yelled gripping both of their collars, he was barely dealing with what Bonnie had done; he would not be able to live if something had happened to Elena.

"She's fine actually she's better then fine!" Stefan yelled and Damon dropped both of them, a small sense of relief washed over him. His girl was fine she was more than fine.

"Then what's the problem." If she was more than fine than nothing could possibly be wrong, if Elena was happy all is good.

"The problem is… she doesn't quite remember you." Stefan forced himself to say.

"What do you mean, she doesn't remember me? I'm the love of her life." Damon explained as if it were quite obvious, his mind was spinning. Alaric had been silent ever since the topic of Elena, had come up so Damon eyed him suspiciously.

"I… Compelled her to forget her love for you." Alaric said his voice tainted with guilt. Damon's eyes grew wide, as did the fire in his heart.

"And why on earth would you do that?" Damon was happy to see his buddy earlier but now he had the overwhelming urge to snap his neck.

"Because she asked me too." Damon's eyebrows shot up at this confession, why would the love of his life do such a thing. His demeanor had fallen, as he fought to comprehend.

"She couldn't handle the fact that you were dead, and she fell of the rocker. She would use herbs to hallucinate you and was feeding on strangers. She was lost without you. So she asked me to-"

"Erase me." Damon finished, his girl who he had been dreaming of getting back to the last 4 months decided to erase him because she couldn't bear the pain of not having him by his side, he had no words for this predicament. So instead of an attempt at words he broke open another bottle of bourbon and chugged the whole thing down, his insides burning as the liquor rushed down his system. He focused on the burning sensation instead of everything else, and was sad when it all ended. His vision began to distort and he could not see clearly nor did he want too, he staggered over to Alaric.

"4 months in hell and I'm coming back to this, I can only say thanks _buddy._" Alaric's body hardened he knew how Damon could be when his feelings where all over the place.

"Damon you have to understand-"

"Shhh, shh I don't want to hear another word from you." Then with no remorse Damon snapped his neck. Stefan's mouth dropped in regard to what he had done, but Damon didn't even think another second as he grabbed another bottle of bourbon.

"Now if you excuse me, today has been an awfully long day and I do believe it is time for me to take a nap." Damon said with an air of finality because he could sense Stefan's urge to retaliate, but before he could he speed away into a guest bedroom and planted himself on the bed. He downed the bottle of bourbon and threw it across the room, when it had served its use. His was definitely drunk, but how he wished he stole another bottle so that he could simply black out. But he was quite close; he was having a hard time distinguishing what was up and what was down after awhile sleep took him away.

"_It's time Damon."_

"_Alright… let's get awkward." _

"_Like this?"_

"_yeah"_

"…_I'm sure there are about a billion people you would rather be with here with."_

"…_Not exactly."_

"…_Not exactly."_

"…_Not exactly."_ Damon's eyes flashed open, the sun hurting his eyes. He had seen her face, the way she cringed up her nose at him and smiled.

"…_Not exactly." _He shook his head to stop her from clouding his mind. Today was a new day, he was alive and it was beautiful out and he'll be damned if he was going to be tortured forever. He got up, a man on a mission he stepped into the closet, with the sudden memory that this was not his closet.

"Stefan!" He screamed there was no way he was going to face today without an armor of leather. But to Damon's disappointment nothing but the wind at his window replied. He barged towards the door wondering why anyone would leave him alone in his present condition. He could understand why Alaric wouldn't be here; he had snapped the man's neck. When he opened the door and peered outside he spotted a set of clothes outside his door, it brought a small smile to his face. Stefan knew him like no other; he retrieved his clothes and changed immediately. The leather jacket was a bit tight around the edges but besides that it fit like a glove, he stared at his reflection. He was back to his bland colorless wardrobe and he should have been glad but instead something was nagging him. It was her, _she_ was nagging him because he knew that she preferred him with colors. His face contorted, so much for not trying to think about her but how could he not she had done the unbelievable for him.

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are." _Yeah he was going to need a lot of liquor, he marched out of the room. Alaric's new digs were small but then again the professor was living alone, Damon headed towards the kitchen until he came across what looked like a library. He peeked inside and found something that interested his eye a nice set of liquor; he dashed his way towards it grabbing the bottle and proclaiming it his.

"Damon." Damon spun to see that Alaric was seated in a plush chair at what seemed to be his desk, so Damon took a seat across from him. Pouring himself a glass he was glad that his buddy didn't seem all to mad at the fact he snapped his neck last night, maybe because he knew he deserved it.

"So how are you?" Alaric asked seeing that had he been drinking copious amounts of alcohol, he leaned into his chair still glad to see that his friend was alive.

"Well let's see. My best friend compels my beautiful lovely girlfriend to forget that she ever loved me. I'm great Ric." Damon said coating every word with sarcasm and taking a sip from his glass.

"Again I apologize but once again it was her wish."

"You think, I don't know that." Damon said ditching the glass and drinking from the bottle.

"You realize you're halfway through my liquor cabinet."

"Yeah I was thinking maybe you should restock." Alaric just gave him a look of pity and decided to change the subject.

"So are you ever going to grace us with the tale of how the Damon Salvatore escaped hell, and returned in one piece?" Little did he know Damon wasn't in one piece he was had been shredded, broken, and stabbed.

"Ahh, the tale that will obviously live on forever."

"Yes that would be the one." Well Damon had yet to fully plot out the details of that tale, so he would prolong the storytelling for as long as possible. Because he couldn't just tell them that he failed to bring her back, that he had failed everyone but most importantly that he had failed Bonnie. They didn't need to know what happened to Bonnie because they didn't need to know to relive the pain of losing her all over again. That was a burden he would carry all on his own.

"_I'm not going to make it, but you are."_

"Well I don't like telling stories more than once, so that tale will be told when everyone is hear to listen to it."

"Great, because their all on there way here now." Well that bought him no time what so ever, indicating that he would have to be quick on his feet.

"Good because I don't like to be kept waiting. Now do you happen to have any pancakes?" Damon had the urge for pancakes all morning mainly because he was use to them and because they reminded him of Bonnie.

"_**Pancakes**_?" Alaric said wondering why the weird request considering he had been in hell for 4 months and he was a vampire.

"Yes _**pancakes**_."

"No I don't have any _**pancakes**_." Alaric said perplexed at him, why he hasn't he asked for blood. Damon didn't care to notice how he was looked at him because his craving for pancakes just intensified. He was about to recommend that Alaric go fetch him some but then the there was a knock on the door. Alaric stood up abruptly, and Damon knew his time for plotting out his story had ended. Seconds later his acquaintances poured in one by one, each of them equally surprised as the last one to see Damon's blessed face. No one said anything; afraid he might disappear if they did so. Everyone was there besides Enzo who he had figured had skipped town a while ago and Elena who he didn't expect to show up anyways. So Damon decided to state the obvious, "I'm back" he sang. If their eyes were wide before they were even wider, now.

"Now tell us the story." Alaric said stepping in next to Stefan who was also quite eager to hear the tale of his brother's escape but his eyebrows still furrowed in worry of what he had done to return. And Damon had finally realized how he would play out his story.

"Well it looks like the whole Scooby Gang is here, so… wait a minute, where's Bonnie?" He swallowed the sound of her name on his tongue mad his throat run dry, and his stomach churn he didn't know how he was going to keep up this façade.

"What!" Jeremy growled. Damon didn't dare look him in the eye if he was going to survive this lie.

"Oh you know, she's about yay tall. Judgy little thing and happens to have the hots for you." Damon went to the pour himself a drink, and waited for a response that he knew he would not get. Everyone had hoped he knew the answer to his question.

"Wait… don't tell me she didn't make it back."

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are." _Damon fought to continue his façade, and finished his glass, her face was burning bright in his mind, she was smiling at him with tears in her eyes as she tossed him the ascendant device.

"No she didn't, she died bringing everyone else back." Jeremy stated anger fueling every sentence.

"We we're hoping that she was with you." Damon attempted to snort at what Stefan said but it came out mangled and broken.

"I was in hell Stefan! Do you honestly think that _Bonnie Bennett_ would be there with me? I'm sure she's somewhere up there, judging us right now." His last sentence coming out a little stifled he hadn't thought about where Bonnie could be right now, hopefully she had found peace. Let her at least have found peace, he begged the universe.

"She knew she was going to die didn't she?" Damon asked no one in particular, he knew she had scarified himself to save everyone and that just yesterday she had sacrificed herself to save him.

"Well then, that just shows what we already know to be true."

"And what's that?" Caroline pondered speaking up for the first time and Damon looked at her like actually looked at her. He could tell she hadn't taken Bonnie's death well.

"That Bonnie Bennett was better than all of us. That I might be the one who returned but she… She's the true hero of this story." In that moment Caroline saw Damon in a new light and she found a respect for him, because all though no one else had bothered to mention it. He had, Damon had been they're all of two seconds before he had stated what everyone needed to hear, the truth. No one could deny the respect that had blossomed in their chest for what Damon had said, not Jeremy, not Matt, and not Tyler. Damon knew that he had never spoke truer words than in that moment, and he hoped that wherever Bonnie was she could hear him. He wanted to thank her but at the same time he wanted to scream at her for being so selfless. She was unlike anyone else he had ever knew, she really was a hero that they should all strive to be like. A silence passed over them, a moment for their fallen hero.

"So how did you manage to escape?" Asked another voice, a voice of he missed dearly. Elena. Her face was even more beautiful then he remembered, and she looked as if she were glowing.

"Well I was trapped in some other dimension." Damon answered averting his eyes from the beauty that was Elena.

"Alone?" Stefan asked. Then her face invaded his thoughts yet again, she was giving him a little lopsided smile again her eyes as bright as emeralds, and his stomach twisted in return.

"Yes, alone or so I thought. Until I met a warlock, who was also imprisoned there. He had this device that could bring us back, but he needed vampire blood to trigger it."

"Let me guess, you killed and him stole the device and came back home." Elena said in a huff, she was beautiful but she still managed to get on his nerves.

"No, I didn't kill him although, **I should have**. He planned on leaving me behind once he got my blood, so I robbed the device and viola here I am." Damon stated hoping that he had kept the story simple enough that they weren't any major plot holes. He could see them already buzzing with questions he was not prepared to answer.

"Elena can I speak to you, please." Damon pleaded in an attempt to leave the room and finally have some one on one time with the girl he so longed for.

"Uh sure." Damon stepped outside and she followed him, Elena had figured that they would have to talk.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"You know what I want to talk about."

"Look you were dead and you weren't coming back and apparently I couldn't handle that."

"I get that, I do. But why erase the memories of us if that's all you had to remember me by?"

"Because it was those memories that stopped me from living." Damon was trying to understand but he couldn't, he just couldn't. No matter how painful it would feel to lose her he would never erase his memory of her, like he would never erase his memory of Bonnie.

"It's just that-"

"Maybe I shouldn't have come today." Elena said starting to walk away but he grabbed her and reeled her in close, Damon couldn't help but to want to kiss her. Elena could tell what he was trying to do as he leaned in, but she didn't want that. She sped herself into the nearest room and locked the door. Damon followed and just laid his head against the door and heard her heartbeat he knew she was on the other.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen." He sighed waiting for her to respond but she didn't.

"For 4 months I have missed you, and I want nothing more than to be with you right now. So why don't you just tell Alaric to allow you to remember, so that we could be together."

"Because I'm not sure if I want to remember." With those words whatever was left to be broken inside of him broke. She had begun to speak about how she was actually happy now but Damon wasn't listening anymore. Heck he wasn't even on the same planet; he had gone through hell only to return to a woman who no longer wanted him. He left Alaric's house and decided to roam the streets, he had no idea where he was heading and could care less. There was nothing left to fight for he was down for the count, his morose thoughts suffocating him. When he finally screeched to a halt and took a deep breath, night had fallen and he was unaware as to what time it was. He searched around to see where he was and across the street there was a diner. He walked across the street and stepped inside, taking a seat.

"What would you like to eat?"

"Pancakes."

"Sorry we don't serve breakfast at this time." Damon stared the waitress in her eyes and entranced her.

"I know it's not breakfast time. But I have been having an awfully bad day so if you could get me those pancakes I would be awfully delighted." Damon finalized compelling her to fetch him some pancakes. His life was a wreck and the only thing he wanted right now were some stupid fucking pancakes, and he'll be damned if he couldn't get them.

"Well you seem to be in a bad mood." A man seated next to him said.

"Thanks Captain Obvious." Damon said without even glancing at him.

"I'd watch the sarcasm if I were you." Damon snorted, who the hell did this guy think he was? He finally looked at him since he had now spiked his interest.

"Really and what exactly do you plan to do if I don't?" The man just smiled as if he held some secret, his blue eyes hiding something manic.

"Let's just say that you're not going to like it." The man placed his money on the counter and walked away. Damon smirked, because he was pleased at the asshole he had given him something to do. So Damon decided that before he could indulge in his beloved pancakes, that he could take out some of his rage on this man and murder him because he was obviously begging for it. He followed him outside and saw him turn into an alley. Great because alleys were Damon's place of preference when it came to murder.

"Hey asshole, where you going?"

"Nowhere the question you should be asking is where will you be going." Then a group of men stepped out from the shadows and surrounded him. Damon hissed this had been a set up. His fangs dropped in what felt like the first time in forever and he was ready to fight. Except there wasn't a fight with one motion from their leader, Damon was peppered in wood bullets, the pain raking his body as he dropped to the ground.

Bonnie had made it to the hospital, and she was frantically checking over her shoulders to check if Kai lurking over her. She was in search for some morphine, so that she could help ease the pain. She knew she had lost an immense amount of blood, probably past the point of no return. She thought about it, why should she fight to fix herself to have to keep on fighting Kai for what? So that she could spend the rest of eternity here, the ascendant device was shattered there was no returning home. This was it; maybe today was finally the day she died like actually died. No other side, no nothing just this being the end of the line. Her hope for anything more had left when Damon did. Bonnie having searched multiple cabinets finally found some morphine. She picked up a syringe and hobbled off to a bed, she was no doctor but she looked for a vein and hoped she was doing this correctly. She took a deep breath and stabbed the syringe into her arm, instantly she could feel it shoot up her arm. And in minutes she was numb and she had never felt better, she grabbed Cuddles from her backpack and laid down on a hospital bed. Bliss had settled over her body, as the pain eased out of her and she could feel nothing.

"I love you Cuddles, I hope you know that." She said whispering in Cuddles ear and another silence passed.

"What do you think he's doing right now, Cuddles?" Bonnie asked staring at Cuddles listening to her reply.

"You're right he's probably celebrating with Elena and Stefan." Bonnie said thinking about how happy Damon must be know that he was back with Elena and his brother, a soft smile formed on her lips.

"_I know there are about a million people you would rather be here with." _Little did he know that after spending 4 months with his annoying ass, there was no else she would rather be with. And even though she wanted to go home she wouldn't have changed the last 4 months for anything in the world, she had gotten to know peace here a luxury she was not allowed in real life. Despite her short and tragic life, she had felt love and peace, which is more than others, could say. She snuggled Cuddles closer and whispered to her.

"I'm ready." She closed her eyes, and let her entire life flash before her eyes, from her childhood with Grams to her last kiss with Jeremy. But the last image that resonated in her mind was Damon smiling shyly at her after she admitted to him that there weren't a billion people she would let take his place. She focused on his eyes, and how blue and sweet they were. Then she allowed death to take her.

When Damon awoke he felt like his body had been put through as much as hell as his brain had.

"Enzo?" Damon said when he realized who was sitting across from him.

"It is nice to see you Damon, although I would have preferred it under different conditions." His accent thick, Damon was glad too see his friend who had an equally sarcastic sense of humor as him.

"Wait where are we?" Damon asked as he took in his surroundings they were both chained into a van.

"Oh we just so happen to be on the way to our deaths." Enzo proclaimed with all the nonchalance in the world.

"Oh that's all?" Damon said smiling, trying to yank of his chains but they just burned his skin, must have been dipped in vervain. He started plotting a way out.

"Don't bother, I've already tried everything. We're trapped."

"Great." Just like the good old days.

"So tell me since we have nothing else to do, exactly how you stand before me."

"It's a long story."

"Trust me there is nothing I rather hear." Damon clenched his jaw he really didn't feel like lying his ass off yet again.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is that I'm back." Damon figured that if he told himself this enough times he would believe to become true.

"And _the girl_?"

"What _girl_?"

"Oh you know, _the girl_."

"I'm afraid I don't." Damon knew all to well what girl he was referring too, she was about 5'2, short brown hair, and had the tendency to sacrifice herself for everyone.

"I'm talking about your little friend, Bonnie." Damon swallowed hard as he pushed her image away, she was smiling again with tears in her eyes.

"Oh_ her_."

"Yes_ her._" Enzo said staring at him, he was acting suspicious.

"I just learned today that she didn't make it back." Damon said hardening his exterior in hopes that Enzo would not figure him out.

"Well that's a load of crap, if I've ever seen one."

"What do you mean?" Damon asked trying to play innocent but he was never really good at it.

"You're lying, terribly if I might add." Damon rolled his eyes; Enzo wasn't going to be convinced so easily.

"I didn't kn-"

"Oh please you and I both knew that girl was on a suicide mission, and I know you were the last person to see her. So tell me what happened to the _girl_?"

"Why do you even care?" Damon asked wondering why Enzo of all people was interrogating like a bloodhound about Bonnie Bennett.

"Because that _girl_ just so happened to save my life." Enzo explained and you could see it in his dark brown eyes, that he was grateful. Damon exhaled heavily sick of the guilt that was gnawing at him, she had saved everyone, she had saved him.

_"I'm not going to make it, but you are."_

"Yeah well you're not the only one." Damon contemplated telling him everything, just so that he didn't have to carry the burden of his secret alone.

"She sa-" Damon had started until the van crashed into something and next thing they knew both of them were flying through air as the van flew on impact. They landed with a thud, and the sound of cracked bones infiltrated their ears. Damon squinted moving his head trying to regain his posture.

"I came back for this?" Damon said he had literally been back for 24 hours and already his life was in jeopardy.

"You alright?" Enzo asked.

"Yeah you?" Enzo nodded in response as they tried to stand up, when someone flung the back doors open. It was Alaric, Matt and Stefan; a weird trio if he had ever saw one.

"Come on lets go." Stefan said ready to flee the scene after he uncuffed his brother, and hesitated when he came to Enzo, but ultimately decided to do it. And when he did Damon was not ready for what happened next, Enzo clasped Stefan's throat with no intention of letting him go and dragged him out of the van and onto the middle of the road. Damon followed behind them wondering what the hell Enzo was doing.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Enzo growled at Stefan whose face had been wiped of any guilt.

"What the hell is happening here?" Damon asked while he, Alaric, and Matt watched in confusion.

"Well while you were gone, you're baby brother here attempted to assassinate me. And is also the reason I was in my current predicament."

"Only because you killed my girlfriend!" Stefan retaliated trying to clasp onto Enzo's neck.

"A girlfriend he so thoughtfully decided to dump on us." Alaric included because he was still not over Stefan's actions. Damon tried to compute everything they were saying but only one thing came to mind.

"Wait, wait a minute. Stefan has a girlfriend?" His eyebrows raising in amusement, and everyone else rolled there eyes of course that was the only thing Damon had caught.

"Yes Damon, he had a girlfriend. Now where is she because she was suppose to be here with you guys." Matt said and suddenly Damon's curiosity sparked wondering what the hell the Matty Blue Blue of all people had to do with all of this.

"Well I can assure you, that Damon and I were the only ones in that van."

"Then where the hell is she?" Matt asked because he had calculated every part of this plan and she was supposed to be in the van.

"_She's_ right here." Tripp said walking out with Ivy in front of him with a stake halfway through her heart.

"Mhm not bad, baby brother, I gotta say she's cute." Everyone paused in there actions and sighed. Alaric just shook his head; this was not the time for Damon's snarky behavior. But Damon didn't care because the present situation had captured his full attention, which he so desperately wanted. And in any other moment the hot stranger calling her cute would have flustered Ivy but right now she happened to have a stake halfway through her heart. Enzo had lowered Stefan because there was someone higher up on his kill list and that happened to be Tripp, Stefan's eyebrows furrowed as they usually did when someone was in trouble.

"So what exactly is you're plan?" Alaric asked not sure how Tripp wanted to play this out, his only leverage was Ivy who wouldn't exactly be considered a loss in most of there eyes.

Her eyes fluttered open once again, she was still in the hospital meaning one thing she was alive.

"What the fuck!" Was she not allowed to die in peace, that was literally all she had asked for and yet the universe could not comply with her simple request.

"I have to say, I do enjoy it when you talk dirty." Her head snapped to the reclining chair in the hospital room and there sat Kai as comfortable as ever, his hands covered in blood. She twisted herself to see whom he could have possibly killed but it brought a sore pain to her abdomen. Her wound, she should have bleeded out by now but she hadn't. She lifted her shirt to examine her wound but there was no hole in the middle of her abdomen, just a couple of rugged stitches.

"What did you do?"

"Let's just say you owe me one, a big one." Kai said coyly as he stepped towards her.

"What did you do!" Bonnie screamed she had literally been seconds away from her death, never having to see a day of hell again.

"I think it's pretty obvious, that I saved you."

"Why?" Bonnie trembled she could not believe what he had done, what he had taken away from her.

"Why? You know usually people are grateful when people save their lives." Kai said a bit frustrated considering it was not easy playing doctor, although he did enjoy coping a feel on Bonnie.

"Who told you that I wanted to be saved!" Bonnie yelled she was furious now but her anger was draining her. Kai was baffled at her outcry but he understood, he himself awaited death like a gift but knew it would never come.

"You know what, I don't think Damon would appreciate the display you're putting on right now." Bonnie thought about it, and it hurt her to know that Kai was right. If Damon were here he would have slapped her silly for giving up so easily. He would ask her how she could fight until the ends of the earth for everyone but not herself.

"Well then it's a good thing he's not there." She sneered at him.

"Don't do that to your face, its not a good look on you." Then Bonnie's hand slapped the shit out of his face, you could hear the crack in the other wing of the hospital. When Kai turned his head back he was smiling like the sociopath he is.

"I didn't know you liked it rough." He grabbed her neck and brought her face to his and gazed into her eyes, she already knew what he was going to do.

"Well do it already, _drain_ me." His warm breath hit her face, and he watched her lips with intensity, his lips itching to take hers. But he decided not yet and stared at her face yet again as if trying to drink the very image of her. Then he latched onto her power and let it surge through him giving him an adrenaline high and she gasped, an image and sound that was pure bliss to his ears.

"I'm not going to drain you babe, like I said you don't get to die. Because you're all I got." He finished with a lick of his lips and commanded her to sleep. Instantly she fell into his arms and he laid her to rest, they would try this again tomorrow when she fully recovers and he had to admit he preferred her sleeping, then constantly screaming. Plus she was even prettier when she was sleeping.

"The question you should be asking is what is Stefan's plan?" With a snap two other men stepped out of the shadows and they held Caroline and Elena in the same position as Ivy. All girls had tears in there eyes but Caroline had a look of fortitude about her.

"You see you lied to me, so now you get to choose which one of these lovely girls get to live." Enzo was prepared to launch himself in Caroline's direction, and Matt was furious that he had let the situation go this far. Damon stared into Elena's eyes but she wasn't looking at him she was staring at Alaric. Should he even attempt to save someone who didn't want to be saved by him? What exactly was Tripp's plan though they were 3 humans against 4 vampires and Matt Donavon. Then with another snap he upped the anti and a group of men enclosed them, causing a vibrant anger to flow through the bodies of the all these men.

"Did I mention you only have 10 seconds to decide?"

"Well then, I hope you have your hero hair ready." Damon directed towards his brother but ultimately spoke to all of them. With that the vampires released there fangs and there eyes went dark nerves rippling underneath them, they were ready for war.

"6, 5, 4, 3, 2… 1!"


	2. Even the Strong Fall

**Thank you, for all the reviews I would be lying if I didn't say that they make my day. Alright since you guys basically begged me to write a continuation of what was once a one-shot. Here it is! Just once again letting you guys know that I'm not actually a writer I kinda just had an idea of how the episode should go and then I just kinda wrote it down. But I did work really hard on this, although I was lazy so it kinda took me like 3 weeks to write it. Hopefully this doesn't suck ass and you guys enjoy it. Warning: You may get Defan feels**

The last 5 seconds on that road were a lethal blur. Enzo dashed towards Caroline when two men commenced shooting at him, which only slowed him down. It would take a lot more to bring down that Augustine vampire. Stefan on the other hand was having a tough time with the two stakes that protruded through his body but still he fought on. Alaric had fought the urge, but the smell of human blood brought him to feed on the fools who dared cross him and boy did he love drinking from the tap. Damon chose another path instead of blindly pursuing the girl of his choice. He sped along the perimeter cracking one neck at a time his speed unfathomable, clearing the path for the rest. He felt nothing as bullets pierced his ivory skin, because Damon was in his element. Rage an emotion that came second nature to him revved through his veins, which allowed him to see everything but yet nothing at the same time. 2 seconds were left and Damon knew he had a choice to make, whereas everyone else had already made his or her choice crystal clear. Elena's eyes matched the darkness of the sky as he glanced at her, tears had yet to fall. He snapped one more neck and fled to the damsel in distress. In one swift motion he yanked the stake from her body and caught her when she collapsed into his arms.

Jeremy Gilbert sat in distraught while staring at the Salvatore fireplace, hoping that the Salvatore Brothers' liquor cabinet could wipe his problems away. An activity the former owner had also excelled in. Maybe it was the fireplace or the ancient bourbon that put their minds to brew; Jeremy on the other hand didn't care as he went to refill his glass. He was already heavily intoxicated but even with his inhibitions unlocked all he could think about was one thing, Bonnie. No matter how much he drank, how many other girls he slept with, there was only one girl he could think of, Bonnie. No one could understand the anger, the pain, and the guilt he felt. Anger because she didn't bother to tell him that her end had arrived, because she didn't tell him anything until the last second over a phone call no less. The pain of never being able to watch her smile again, or kiss her, or touch her, or even hear the sound of her actual voice instead of her thoughtless voicemail. The guilt he felt because he knew that if she didn't die for him, she would be standing here and he would have been the one watching over her. But deep down there was a part of him that felt relief because if she wasn't in the hell Damon was in it could only mean she had found peace. A peace he knew she deserved because life hadn't been well to her, she deserved much more than life had given her and maybe wherever she was she was truly free and happy. Which brought a small smile to his face amid the tears he had shed.

"Maybe it's time for you to go to bed." Sarah said she had been watching him for a while. Jeremy's head whipped around hoping to find Bonnie but only to be greeted with a swirling image of Sarah, which only caused him to cry more. She slowly walked over to him; she had grown use to seeing him like this.

"Tell me something Sarah, why haven't you run for the hills? Huh. There is nothing good here." Jeremy had wobbled his way to her, cackling all the while. Slowly she walked towards him, her PJs grazing the floor as she reached out to steady him. In reality she had no answer to his question, she could tell that whatever awaited her here wasn't going to be good. But yet she couldn't bring herself to leave, she was dying to know more and maybe just like Jeremy she too was lost.

"Lets go back to bed, ok." She said placing his arm over her so that he could balance himself.

"It hurts." He whispered to her, the smell of alcohol infiltrated Sarah's nostrils.

"What does?" Sarah asked and watched him as he slowly dragged his hand to his bare chest. He was pointing to his heart.

"It hurts all the time." His voice grew grave.

"I know it does." She said moving him towards the stairs.

"Yeah but you don't understand. No one does." Little did Baby Gilbert know that there was someone who did understand; someone who understood the anger, guilt, pain, and the very miniscule sense of relief.

Damon watched as the wound began to heal, she stared back at him in confusion and appreciation. Damon took a glance around, they had managed to save all 3 of the girls and yet he had found that everyone was staring at him in bewilderment. He shrugged off their stares and once again looked back at the brunette eyes in front of him that had now begun to water. Her arms embraced him, because she would be forever grateful.

"Thank you." Damon wasn't use to those words, he rarely ever said it and it was even more rare for him to hear them. Especially with every syllable being spoken in sincerity, those words stirred something inside of him, and he had no idea what.

"_It means, there's hope for you."_

"No biggie, what was your name again?" He asked as he patted her on the back.

"Ivy. My name's Ivy." He offered her a smile as he let her stand on her own, and gathered his surroundings. Stefan and Enzo had tag teamed their way to Caroline making sure she was safe, Alaric had reached Elena in time, Matt had managed to stay out of harms way although he was a wreck considering he just saw all his friends get slaughtered within the matter of seconds. But despite all of this everyone was concentrated on him. And he knew why, he off all people in the world had chosen to save Ivy a person he doesn't even know. He decided to save the person that no one else would, he saved the girl that was the last thought on everyone's mind even though she too had stared death in the eye.

"_It means, there's hope for you." _He shook the voice that constantly echoed through his brain and turned to his audience.

"Where's the asshole who caused this mess?" Damon asked searching for Tripp, but not finding him in the vicinity until he heard a car screech taking off into the night. Damon would have chased it but it had already crossed the border into Mystic Falls. This snapped everyone out of their stupor, as they realized that there bad guy had just escaped.

"Great another bloody problem for us to deal with." Enzo sighed as Caroline slid herself out of Stefan's arms. The action was simple but it made all the difference to Stefan. The sky was a few shades brighter, the sun about to break through the horizon. It was a new day, and Damon was already fed up with it.

"Wakey wakey" A voice sang in falsetto into Bonnie's ears that caused her to stir from her sleep.

"Damon?" She asked her mind still clouded from her slumber, a small smile appearing on her lips because Damon had this knack for waking her up if she ever slept past breakfast.

"No, better." The sound of this voice was hungry and childish. Her eyelids separated to find the image of Kai lying beside her. Bonnie was quick to shove him off her bed, she was surprised to find herself in her own bed. Because that indicated that Kai had brought her here in his arms and probably watched her all night like the creep he is.

"Well that's no way to treat you're guardian angel." Kai retorted.

"Why must everyday of my life be an endless nightmare?" She asked the world with the knowledge that there will never be an answer.

"Well that's not nice, considering I made you breakfast." Kai said while invading her personal space as usual. If looks alone could kill then Kai would have died fifty times in the last 5 seconds.

"I love it when you're angry…" He began leaning into her ear. "It's hot and it makes me happy in all the right places." He smiled mischievously and ran out of the room before she could murder him. Half an hour later, she appeared downstairs much to her own disbelief, but Kai wasn't surprised at all he had expected her to come out of curiosity. He patted the chair next to him for her to sit down, so Bonnie made a show of taking the chair furthest from him. The only result, a grin breaking out on his face, as he moved to sit closer to her and handed her a plate of bacon and eggs. Her eyes fell to inspect the plate with an acute intensity.

"How do I know this isn't poisoned?" She interrogated as she analyzed his face only to find him rolling his eyes.

"I think I've already proven that I want you alive. Plus if it is poisoned wouldn't that be the quick end to you're nightmare?" He raised his brow and she smirked he was right so she helped herself to a mouthful of eggs hoping that he did have the balls to poison it, although she knew better. The action brought a grimace to Kai's face, she was serious about the prospect of her death, but he quickly recovered.

"So if you're not going to kill me, what do you plan on doing?" Bonnie could detect no poison to her disappointment, and to add on to that she had found his eggs to be delicious. But for some reason her brain didn't want her to eat the bacon and eggs even though her body was telling her that she was hungry.

"The same thing I've always planned on doing. Getting the hell out of here." And although there was an edge to his voice, he still grinned like a fool, which made him all the scarier.

"Do I have to remind you that you're one way ticket out of here is no longer valid." Bonnie deadpanned as she forced herself to continue eating; she needed her energy levels high in case Kai tried something.

"That seems to have totally slipped my mind." Kai exhaled with sarcasm.

"What exactly is you're plan?" Bonnie asked sick of beating around the bush she wanted to know what the jerk face was up too already.

"Well in all honesty, I have two plans. Plan A your sexy self figures out a way to open that portal again." Kai winked.

"Yeah, ok. I see myself doing that about as much as I see myself becoming friends with you."

"So… soon." Kai grinned.

"Are you telling me you want to be my friend? If so do you know that friendships don't tend to start with sending an arrow through your so called friend's body."

"You're still mad about that? To be fair you murdered me, the second I was no longer useful to your cause." Kai was more than enjoying this constant back and forth.

"I was simply trying to do the universe a favor." She smirked as she crunched into her bacon.

"I'm glad you have a sense of humor. But if we're going to be realistic here, technically I've been a better friend than you."

"Please tell me, how your psychotic brain could possibly come to that conclusion?"

"Simple you murdered me with the plan of letting me stay stuck here forever, and I shot you with a bow but ultimately saved your life." He said mentally congratulating himself for being so kind.

"Ok but are you forgetting that you tried to murder my friend?" Bonnie didn't use his name because she couldn't bring herself too.

"Who, Damon? I already told you he was just leverage."

"And the fact that you tried to drain me of my power."

"First time was simply a demonstration of my skill, second time you asked for it. Third time was to let you have a peaceful sleep." Kai explained with his hand gesturing the simplicity of it all.

"This doesn't change the fact that you are a sociopath who murdered his entire family."

"Not entirely, remember I allowed my sister to live. Besides that's all in the past." Kai clarified with a wave of his hand.

"No it's not because your sister is alive and she will forever be traumatized by the decisions you made. And yet you feel no remorse and know no mercy." Bonnie could see that this unsettled him, unlike the subject of homicide.

"Traumatized! That's rich; I suppose you want me to feel bad for my sister who actively gets to live out her life. While I have lived an eternity imprisoned." Kai was on the edge of his seat and this is the first time Bonnie had ever seen him accurately display rage, but she wasn't afraid. She leaned in, so that her face was mere centimeters away from his, which in any other moment would have been deeply satisfying for Kai but not right now.

"You deserve to live forever, with no hope of ever escaping this hellhole." Bonnie had felt mercy for many but she would not feel it for the monstrosity that is Kai. But he only returned her comment with a chuckle.

"That may be true. But soon you'll learn the effects of solitude. It has a way of eating at your sanity. This place can do a number on you. " Kai spoke with an eerie certainty.

"Well I rather be alone then deal with you for the rest of eternity." Then a genuine smile that spread from cheek to cheek spread across his face and he gazed deep in to Bonnie's green eyes. Something inside his own grey eyes beheld an emotion akin to pity, and then he simply walked away.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked sure that he was backing down from whatever they were just doing.

"I'm granting you your wish, I'm leaving." Bonnie's chin pushed back into her neck, as she was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get to rid of him. Some would say to easy.

"You can always beep me, when you realize the error of your ways." Bonnie rolled her eyes there was no way she was going to call him or beep him. She had gotten the easy way out from Kai; initially she was prepared to kill him everyday.

A week had passed since Damon's return. Ivy had learned to control her vampire ways with the support of Stefan and Caroline. And although they both helped Ivy, both have managed to do so without speaking a word to each other. Caroline had made it clear that she no longer wanted anything to do with Stefan, the only reason she helped Ivy was because she felt guilty about her capture. It was odd how they took care of Ivy some would say it reminds them of a divorced couple where both partners won custody. As of late Caroline had been spending most of her time with Enzo, who had decided that out of the kindness of his heart he would not kill Stefan. Alaric had been on a couple of dates with Jo, and he was becoming quite fond of her although she had yet to tell him why he can't compel her not that he expected her too. He had also managed to speak with Elena a few times and she was still quite happy with the prospect of not having her memories of Damon. In fact her happiness may have been in part of all the time she was spending with Liam. Matt on the other hand did not have a good week in fact he had to attend a surplus of funerals for his slaughtered friends, and Jeremy was either drunk or blacked out from being drunk. And Damon, well Damon was stuck living in the past.

Everyday he woke up and told Stefan that he was going out with no specific destination in mind. But the destination was always the same, he would head to a diner on the outskirts of town and compel himself some vamp cakes. Then he would go grocery shopping at the usual supermarket, where he would always buy a carton of eggs and a pair of aviators. Needless to say Damon had an excess of eggs and sunglasses back at Alaric's apartment. The regular cashier, Stefan, and Alaric were growing suspicious of the amount of eggs he bought, but Damon didn't care. Afterwards he would go on a long walk while 90's tunes blasted in his ears, then he would finish off the night by going to some bar and drinking until he was sure he was on the brink of death. That's when he would manage to find his way home and black out on his bed, his brother and Alaric already sound asleep. Or at least Damon thought, Stefan laid awake every night awaiting his brother's return, a part of him was immensely afraid that one day he would never return. Stefan wasn't stupid he knew that ever since Damon came back something was wrong; it was like Damon was just going through the motions of being alive. But this day was different Stefan had awakened early so that he could stop Damon before he left, but to his surprise he found Damon flipping pancakes in the small kitchen Alaric owned.

"You're up early." Damon stated knowing all to well the reason his brother was awake early was because of his concern for him.

"I could say the same for you." Stefan responded still trying to comprehend why the hell Damon was cooking.

"Pancakes?" Damon asked without lifting his eyes from the griddle.

"Uh, sure." Damon quickly handed him a plate and watched his brother's reaction as he surveyed his pancakes. He could see his eyebrows fury just a little and a small smile played on his lips.

"I didn't know they were novelty pancakes." As a pancake with a smile made of blueberries and fangs of whip cream gazed at him.

"You know me I'm a regular Picasso." Damon smirked and his brother snorted back at him and it brought a smile to Damon's features because it reminded him of how Bonnie would react to him, but the smile quickly disappeared when he remembered she was gone. Damon switched the stove off and sat across his brother to eat his pancakes. When Stefan watched his brother take a bite of the pancakes he came to the realization that Damon actually expected him to eat the pancake. Slowly Stefan reached for his fork, trying to remember the last time the two of them had sat down for an actual meal of their own will, and not to please a human. It had been so long Stefan began to think no occurrence had ever existed but then he recalled the last time they had a meal. It was when they were both newly transitioned vampires and Damon so desperately tried to cling onto his humanity by doing the most mundane activities such as eating food. So what did this breakfast mean exactly, that Damon was trying to cling on to his humanity that he had given up a long time ago? But what could have possibly orchestrated him to search for his humanity? Was it because he was stuck in hell for months? What happened while he was there? What did he do by himself everyday? If he was alone wouldn't he want to be in the company of others now? A million questions erupted in Stefan's mind, but he shook his head and bite into his pancake. He decided now was not the time to burden his brother with questions he did not want to answer.

"Not bad." Stefan stated his brother was usually a terrible cook, but these pancakes were quite delicious.

"You sound shocked."

"Damon lets face it, you've never been that great of a cook." Damon smirked he had missed his baby brother.

"And these pancakes are surprisingly…" Stefan lingered trying to find the word to explain them.

"What?"

"Edible."

"_You know when all this started, you sucked at making pancakes. And now they're somewhat edible."_

"You know what they say practice makes perfect." Damon offered a dry smile that didn't match his eyes as he had been doing since he had arrived.

"Practice?" Stefan asked wondering when Damon could possibly find the time to practice making pancakes.

"Yeah it means repeating an action until you get better." Damon responded with all the sarcasm in the world.

"I think I know what it means. But when did you have the time to practice making pancakes?"

"On the other side, there was an endless amount of time."

"But why? You don't even eat." Stefan asked rapidly and as casual as possible this was the first time Damon was speaking about his time spent on the other side.

"I use to make them everyday for B-" And finally Damon had noticed that his brother was on to him, and he almost gave away his secret. Silently he cursed his brother for being so easy to talk too.

"Finish your sentence please." Stefan persuaded, he was almost positive that Damon was going to say he was making pancakes for someone else.

"I use to make them everyday for basic purposes, like trying not to desiccate from boredom." Damon smirked hoping that he had sound convincing enough to throw his brother off track.

"But still-"

"Stefan! I don't really like to dwell about my time in that… _hellhole_." Damon spat quickly to cut Stefan off before this turned into a full-blown interrogation. Stefan wasn't buying it though, there was something about the way Damon said hellhole. The way he hesitated before hand but lingered on the word, made it sound as if he were questioning whether it had been an actual hellhole. Which made Stefan's eyebrows furrow even more in confusion. Had his brother been lying about being stuck in hell, or did he just realize that it was never a hell to begin with? Either way Stefan had a lot of questions bubbling in his head and Damon could almost see the gears churning in his little brothers brain.

"So what's up with you and Blondie?" Damon asked with a façade of innocence as he tried to steer from the subject of his death.

"What?" Stefan said, as he did not expect Damon to bring up Caroline.

"I'm drunk not blind, Stefan. I can tell something is obviously wrong between the two of you. So what happened? Did you cheat on her with Ivy or something?"

"What! Caroline and I aren't dating. And we have never dated."

"Really what's stopping you? I swore I was going to find the two of you all over each other when I got back."

"What do you mean?" Stefan was perplexed he had no idea what the fuck Damon was talking about.

"What do you mean, what do I mean?" Damon asked he had made it pretty clear what he meant.

"I mean, why the heck did you think we we're going to be all over each other?"

"You're kidding right?" Damon chuckled hoping his brother was just joking around, but his chuckle was met with a dead silence.

"Oh my god! You don't know, you really don't know do you?" Damon proceeded to fall into a fit of laughter, this is the funniest thing to happen since he was return, and he so welcomed the warmth of comedy and laughter.

"Don't know what?" Stefan muttered slightly clenching his jaw he didn't like the fact that he was the butt of whatever joke this was.

"That Barbie has a thing for you, and you got a thing for her."

"You're crazy!" Stefan was staring at Damon as if his head just did a full 360 on his neck.

"Look living in denial is never a good thing. I mean look at how many years you were in denial about me being the hotter brother." Damon explained while wriggling his eyebrows at his brother.

"I'm not in denial, me and Caroline are just friends or we use to be."

"Yeah and I'm just moderately good looking."

"It doesn't matter she hates me."

"She doesn't hate you, she hates herself because she's allowed herself to love you enough for you to hurt her. She'll come back."

"_She always came back, all 13 times."_

"How do you know?"

"Because they always do, all 13 times." Damon muttered remembering Kai's words.

"13 times?" Stefan was once again confused with yet more questions.

"Listen you can't let her come back. You have to go after her because… she… loves you." Damon may have been seated in front of his brother but his mind was on another plane entirely as he had come to the realization that Bonnie had grown to love him. Of course she did why else would she sacrifice herself for him, why would she always come back, why did she never give up on him, because she loved him and it had taken him this long to figure it out.

"What are you talking about?"

"Promise me you'll go to her, that you'll win her back!" Stefan was about to argue with him but the Damon had a bittersweet smile on his face and his eyes seemed to be more vivid then ever. His face read that of desperation and Stefan guessed that it must have been because of Elena.

"Ok I promise." Stefan spotted the melancholy that appeared in his brother's eyes at his promise and he found it strange.

"Well then?"

"Oh you want me to go now?"

"Trust me you don't have any time to waste." Damon said stepping out of his seat and dragging his brother by his shirt to the door.

"Damon it's 7:30!"

"Your point being?" Damon said with one last shove, pushing his brother out the door.

"Fine I'll go, but you have to talk to promise you'll talk to Elena today."

"Elena?"

"Yes Elena, the love of your life. She'll be attending a medical fundraiser tonight, so go win her over."

Damon smirked he knew his brother was worried for his well being, so he gave him a small nod of agreement. He had thought about Elena constantly and each time he became slightly more enraged with her decision of erasing him. If the roles were reversed he would have held onto those memories tighter despite the pain they bring, because at the end of the day that would be the only thing he would have of her. But his love for her was still prominent, and he had missed the sight of her face so he decided he will attend this fundraiser and he'll ask her why she did it.

The sun had begun to set, painting the sky with a kaleidoscope of soft colors. There Bonnie stood barefoot on the edge of a rocky cliff that led to a steep fall. The breeze blew through her hair and caused her pink nightgown to rustle against her caramel skin. She held Cuddles by her hand, as they both gazed at the horizon. This had been the worst week of her life, worst then when she was dead. Worst then when she was the anchor, worst then when her Grams or father died. At least then she had other people by her side, people to talk too. But after Kai had left, she had been utterly alone with no voice to hear but her own. She loved Cuddles with all her heart but Cuddles was her silent companion. The silence had consumed her even when she tried playing music it would fade into nothing, she was sure she had gone deaf. She hadn't slept in 3 days, in fact this morning she was tossing and turning in her bed but she had given up and made her way to this spot. She still couldn't believe it had only been a week, it felt like years to her or an eternity. Nothing was tethering her to reality; nothing was tethering her to life. The world was vast and she was small but there was one thing they shared in common they were both empty here. She had lost her sense of rationality, heck she had lost her sense of everything. So she slowly stepped towards the edge of the cliff and glanced down, taking note in how steep the fall was. Her breath hitched in her throat as she estimated the distance, in her perspective it looked like miles. Which brought her satisfaction; she was excited to feel the weightlessness and freedom of falling.

"Are you ready, Cuddles?" She asked not bothering to wait for her response because Cuddles would always agree with her.

"I'm sorry Damon." She whispered into the wind, she could see his silver blue eyes getting angry with her now. She knew he would not approve of this, of her abandoning all hope. He wouldn't approve of her just giving up and dying, especially with all the work he had done to bring her back from the dead. But she couldn't do it anymore, she didn't want to be brave or strong because there was nothing to be strong for. This was the end of the road for her. Bonnie's foot grazed the dirt as she took the final step to the edge.

"_Whatever happened to hope Bon?"_

"Don't you dare take another step!" Bonnie shook her head at the sound of the voice in her head.

"Bonnie! Do not take another step." This voice was different from all the other ones she had attempted to create in her head, it protruded her ears and invaded all her other thoughts. It had this feeling of authenticity, but she brushed it off anyways sure that her imagination had just gotten extremely vivid.

"Bonnie turn around…please." The voice was low now it was almost a growl it had started off in anger but ended with what sounded like desperation. Slowly her head turned, until her vision fell upon a man boy in cargo shorts she had grown all too familiar with.

"Kai?" Now she was sure that he wasn't a figment of her imagination because of the orchestra of voices and images her head had attempted to create none of them were Kai and none of them was this realistic.

"How about you take a step back." His voice strained to be patient.

"How did you find me?" Bonnie asked twirling around to face him, she was on a cliff at sunset, how did he find her?

"You didn't think I'd let you out of my sight, did you?" Kai inched his way to her knowing that she was a ticking time bomb.

"You've been watching me?" Bonnie asked in amazement, how had she not noticed him. Well then again how did both her and Damon not realize that he was lurking beside them for 4 months?

"Of course I was, in the hopes that you might have tried to escape, but instead you decided to lose your marbles."

"There is no escape besides death." Bonnie whispered that was what a little voice had been telling her recently.

"Bonnie Bennett. I thought you were stronger than most, I thought you of all people could fight this. But I guess I was wrong." Kai said with a laugh he had expected her to last longer, he had betted on a month. Thankfully there was no one for him to place that bet against, because he would have lost big time.

"Even the strong fall." Bonnie answered but her focus wasn't on Kai. She had been strong her entire life, it was her time to fall it was only ironic that she planned on doing so literally as well.

"Trust me I know. I warned you about this place didn't I." He had made it so that he was only a yard away from her now.

"Yeah you did." This time she was looking at him her green eyes luminous, possibly due to the fact that the scenery behind her was full of evergreen that only brought her eyes out even more. Kai stopped and stared at her for one second, she was smiling at him. He blinked to check if his eyes were fooling him but no, there she stood defeated as the sun illuminated behind her causing her to glow, with a smile smacked on her face. As much as he wanted to torture her for smiling at him as if she was winning, there was a part of him that just wanted to keep staring, because the image he was witnessing was kinda surreal. But then as a breeze flew through the air raking Bonnie's hair and nightgown his mind clicked.

"Don't fucking do it." She was going to jump he could see it in her eyes, and in the way she inhaled the air as if it were her last breath. He stepped forward and she stepped back, which only caused a growl to settle in his chest.

"It's too late." Then she raised her hands and leaped of the ledge but not even a split second after Kai had jumped towards her hoping he could grab her. Instead he had grabbed on to Cuddles, who Bonnie had in a tight grasp. Now both Kai and Bonnie dangled off the side of the cliff, but Kai's legs still remained on the ground.

"How many times do I have to tell you, that the only way you will die here is when I decide I want to murder you!" Kai exhaled, this was proving to be an exercise. He could see the anger in Bonnie's face he wasn't going to let her get away with this.

"Let go of Cuddles!" She screamed as she saw that Cuddles inseam was slowly starting to rip apart.

"Don't you think it's funny that you value this bear's life more than your own."

"I said let her go!" Frustration was clearly evident on her features.

"No." Kai grinned devishly at her. Bonnie head geared into action, she could just let go of Cuddles but then Cuddles would be stuck with Kai forever and she couldn't do that to Cuddles. She could just set Kai on fire but that might set Cuddles on fire as well. A million ideas ran through her mind at the speed of light until she found one that might work, and how she didn't think of it before astounded her.

"Potest esse impedimentum ad hoc tempus et spatium . Et mitte ibi summa circa aestimationem." Bonnie chanted, she could feel it in her blood that it was working.

"What?"

"Goodbye." Her hand unlatched itself from Cuddles, and a carefree smile appeared as she flew to the ground, Bonnie was finally free. A mangled cry escaped from Kai's chest that echoed through the woods as he watched his last hope of salvation fall, a tear escaped his eye. He heard the thud far below that indicated her body had met the ground below and he sat up on the edge of the cliff when he realized that Cuddles had vanished just like his hope. The sun had finished setting, leaving Kai in the dark crouched over in anguish.

Damon fixed his tie, and stared at his reflection in the window. He looked hot, but then he again what did he expect him and tuxedos were a deadly mixture. He swung the door open; tonight he was going to talk to the love of his life. He spotted Alaric and his new lady love across the room and made his way to them, Elena had yet to arrive.

"Damon, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to win my girl back." Damon said with a wiggle of his brow and then glanced at Jo.

"It's nice to meet you, and I must say you are a vixen in red." Jo smiled she couldn't help but blush a little.

"The infamous Damon Salvatore."

"Infamous?"

"Yes all Alaric has spoken about is your return…from the dead." Damon remained still she knew and that had intrigued her even more. Damon could sense that she was something supernatural herself.

"Well then I do hope I live up to your expectations." Damon said as he gently took her hand and planted a kiss on it.

"You surpass them." Jo's face was crimson red now, despite the fact that her boyfriend stood two feet away. Damon pulled away slowly with a smirk on his face.

"Last time I checked Damon this wasn't your girl." Alaric said putting space in between Jo and Damon.

"Relax Ric. I was checking to see if I still had it and by the look on her face, I do." Damon smirked and patted Alaric's shoulder, if Ric were a teenage girl he would have rolled the shit out of his eyes. But then Damon's smile disappeared because out of his peripheral vision he could see that she had arrived. Quickly spun around to find Elena in a tight black dress across the room. Yeah she was still every much as beautiful as the day he had first met her. He was ready to advance his way to her until he saw a boy take her arm.

"Who is that?"

"That's Liam. Elena's boyfriend." Alaric explained with an ounce of pity. Damon hadn't taken her eyes off of her; of course she didn't want her memories back she had moved on. He watched this Liam guy whisper in her ear, and then he could hear Elena's laughter ringing in his ears. She had never laughed like that with him, he swallowed hard she was happy and who was he to ruin that for her. Before she could land her eyes on him Damon he vanished.

Matt had been on the discovery of something big while he was snooping through Tripp's files until Sarah intruded on him to do some snooping of her own. After awhile of letting her satisfy her curiosity a bit he decided it was time for them to go home. Soon the guilt bit at him and he told her the truth that the Salvatores were alive and that she should distance herself as far as possible from them. He was prepared to tell her more until he heard Jeremy screaming from the next room. He was drunk Matt could smell him from where he stood. He was going on about forgetting Bonnie's pin number. Ultimately he gave up and smashed the glass he was drinking from, cutting his hand. Matt grabbed on to Jeremy before he could hurt himself anymore, and Sarah told him the thing she repeated to herself on a daily basis.

"It's gonna be ok."

"No it's not!" Jeremy yelled at her, and Matt didn't say anything because he couldn't promise him that, he couldn't promise him that it was all going to be ok.

"She's gone. Bonnie's gone." Matt knew she was gone a long time ago, and it had done a number on him too. Bonnie was his best friend and it hurt him to know that he'll never get to see him again, so he did the best only thing he could do and embraced him, the same way he had embraced Bonnie when she was dead and her father had died.

Damon had already downed a whole bottle of vodka, which wasn't nearly as strong as he wanted it to be, but he had already drunk all the bourbon Alaric had to offer. He was glad that Alaric had a fireplace though, because if he didn't where else would he sulk in silence.

"Damon, I thought you were at the fundraiser?" Stefan asked taking his place next to Damon.

"And I thought you were suppose to be winning a certain blonde back." Damon grinned at himself his own snark amused him.

"About that. She didn't take to fondly to the fact that I woke her up."

"What did you tell her?" Damon asked this conversation had piqued his interest more than the vodka he had been drinking.

"I told her that I was sorry about everything. Then she said it was going to take more than an "I'm sorry" to win her back." Stefan reminisced.

"At least you apologized, but I'm guessing that wasn't all of it."

"I asked her to go to the fundraiser with me." Stefan said reluctantly.

"Lemme guess she laughed at you." Damon could only imagine the Barbie's reaction.

"Yeah she did." Stefan chuckled; he knew that she wasn't going to accept his invitation.

"So what did you do?"

"I came with a back plan. I told her that if she wouldn't go with me, she might as well go with someone she does like." Stefan smiled.

"Don't tell me." Damon said with anticipation for the next part of the story although he had a feeling he knew it.

"Enzo. He almost murdered me for waking him up so early but when I told him it was for Caroline, he gladly stood outside her dorm with a bouquet of flowers."

"You know he has a soft spot for the ladies."

"Don't we all." Stefan chuckled and Damon joined him, you would think that the biggest problem for vampires would be the whole burning in the sun and bloodlust thing, but for this group it was the ladies.

"Ain't that the truth brother."

"Speaking of ladies, what happened with your conquest for Elena?" Stefan questioned with curiosity.

"Well I saw her." Damon said bringing up the image of her walking in to the building.

"And?"

"And that's it."

"What do you mean that's _it_?" Stefan asked wondering if he had been missing something.

"I saw her, and then I left." Damon said as it were obvious.

"Why?" Stefan's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Because she was…happy." Damon whispered as he recalled her laughter ringing in his ears.

"So…" Stefan continued wondering what his brother would do next.

"So, I let her go." Damon glared at the flames in the fireplace as Stefan's face turned blank that was the last thing he ever expected Damon to say. Suddenly he felt proud of him, he was proud that his brig brother was capable of doing something selfless. A small smile appeared on his face, and he was glad Damon wasn't looking at him. But Damon didn't have to look at him to know that his baby brother was proud of him, and a part of him smiled along with his brother. The fact that he had made Stefan proud of him, made Damon feel something, considering in over a 100 years he had not done anything for Stefan to respect him.

"Isn't it funny? That after years of fighting over the same girl, neither of us ended up with her." Damon laughed and Stefan couldn't help but laugh along with him, the irony of the matter was far too funny, and for a second they were human again. When there laughter died down, they sat still and watched the flames together and Damon was glad he had his brother by his side, he could lose everything but as long as he had his brother there would be hope that soon everything will be ok.

"I have to tell you something." Damon figured it's about time he told his brother the truth.

"What brother?" Stefan smiled still giddy from the laughter of earlier.

"It's about the Other Side."

"We don't have to talk about it." His giddiness had left and was replaced with concern.

"But I want to." Damon said and he did, in fact he's been dying to confess everything, since the second he returned.

"Well then I'm listening." And Stefan was, he knew that this had been tough for Damon but the curiosity was killing him. Damon hesitated not knowing where to begin.

"I lied to everyone." He had decided that this was the best way to start.

"Lied?" Stefan questioned considering Damon's story seemed very honest.

"I wasn't alone." A pair of green eyes infiltrated his mind she was looking at him and he was looking at her.

"I know that. You said this Kai guy was there."

"No I mean there was someone else. Someone who had been there with me from the beginning." Then he saw her whole face, her sharp eyebrows, heart shaped lips, and pointy chin.

"Who?" Stefan asked leaning into his seat, all his attention focused on Damon. Damon finally ripped his eyes away from the fireplace and stared at his brother.

"Bonnie." The image of her was clear now she was frustrated with him as usual when he said something stupid.

"But you said, you didn't see her." Stefan said trying to understand.

"Like I said I lied. When the other side was crashing down, we held each others hand awaiting whatever the light would bring us. But instead it transported us to this other dimension that caused us to relive the same day over and over again. I gave up hope of ever finding a way out immediately but Bonnie…Bonnie never gave up." Damon's eyes were ablaze with an emotion Stefan could not place.

"_You hear that Damon that's what hope sounds like." _

"Then why aren't we trying to get her out." Stefan said abruptly standing to his feet. After everything Bonnie had done for them, they owed it to her to bring her back.

"Because she _died._" Damon choked out that was the first time he had said it out loud and he decided that will also be the last. He avoided his brother's eyes and found himself staring at the flames again. Each flame radiant, as they danced together in harmony and somehow the hearth made him think of Bonnie.

"_Stay away from him!"_

"What do you mean she died, you guys were already dead." Stefan said staring at Damon, who seemed pretty content with the fire.

"Leave it to Bonnie to find a way to die while already being dead right?" Damon chuckled softly but it sounded more like a cry.

"_I'm not going to make it. But you are."_

"What happened?"

"She sacrificed herself for me, so that I could make it back." Damon muttered.

"Sacrificed?" Stefan knew Bonnie only sacrificed herself for the ones she loved, so that could only mean one thing. That in their time there she had grown to love Damon.

"We were seconds away from making it back together, but Kai shot her with an arrow." Damon flinched at the memory that was still fresh in his mind.

"I didn't get time to heal her because she wanted me to stop Kai from getting out. But I could have care less now if he made it out, if it meant that she was still alive! I told her to go, to leave, to make it back. But instead she sent me!" Damon threw the empty bottle of vodka at the fire, causing the fire to ignite. A tear found his way down his cheek, and Stefan finally figured out the emotion he couldn't place. It was love, Damon had grown to love Bonnie too, and now she was gone. Stefan wrapped his arms around him, and at first Damon stood motionless but gradually his arms wrapped around Stefan. Damon deepened the hug; he wasn't going to be the first to let him go.

"I told her to go." Damon whispered.

"I know you did." Stefan said rubbing the back of Damon's head.

"Why did she save me?" Stefan pulled back, only holding to Damon's shoulders.

"She did it out of love Damon." There it was that word love again, and all he could think was how could it even be possible that Bonnie love him. Him, the man who had caused her so much pain. He, who never believed in her when all she wanted was for him to have a little faith.

"_I'm sure they are about a billion people you would rather be here with."_

"_Not exactly."_

"But I'm not the one who deserved to be saved." Damon confessed and Stefan was about to tell him how he deserved to live as well, and how much he needed his big brother because without him he's lost, until there was an abrupt knock at the door. Stefan wanted to keep holding on to his brother and forget whoever was knocking. But the knocking continued to get louder and more violent, Damon nodded allowing Stefan to answer the door. Stefan swiftly made his way to the door and unlocked it, to find Matt and a girl propping up an intoxicated Jeremy.

"What are you guys doing here?" Stefan asked bewildered and the threesome barged in dropping Jeremy on to a nearby couch.

"We need your help. Well Jeremy needs your help." Matt huffed glad he could finally stretch his back. The girl moved towards the kitchen deciding to lay low by leaning against the counter.

"He wouldn't be Jeremy if he didn't need help." Damon chuckled as he reached for another drink. Stefan glanced at his brother and saw that his brother had resorted to his usual self. It was almost frightening how fast Damon could snap his mask back into place.

"What's the problem?" Stefan said crossing his arms as he usually did when about to solve problems.

"Jeremy is losing his mind so we were thinking if one of you could erase his memories of her." Matt explained, and waited for them to precede erasing Jeremy's memories.

"Her?" Damon questioned as if he didn't know whom they were asking about, but he knew very well who they spoke of.

"Bonnie, he wants to erase Bonnie." Matt said he didn't like it but the way Jeremy was acting it didn't look like they had another choice. In

"We can't do that." Stefan said without an explanation, surprising Damon.

"Why not, Elena did it." Matt asked in confusion. He was already not thrilled to be in the presence of the Salvatores considering they murdered all his childhood friends the least they could do was help Jeremy.

"And look how well that worked out." Stefan said pointing towards Damon.

"Yeah but Bonnie's never gonna come back." Jeremy muttered as he tried to gather himself off the couch, and used all his effort to trudge toward Stefan. He didn't notice that at his statement Damon turned to face the fire once again.

"Jeremy I'm sorry-"

"No Stefan, you don't understand it's torture and I don't think I can do it anymore. Please!" Jeremy begged, falling to his knees. Stefan was overwhelmed by the smell of alcohol it being a 100x stronger to his vampire senses. The girl at the kitchen counter exhaled deeply as she heard the name of the person Jeremy begged too.

"I'm sorry but I'm not going to do it." Stefan finished, hoping that was the end of the conversation. Jeremy searched Stefan's eyes and saw that he would find no salvation in them so he turned and crawled to Damon.

"Damon please you've done it before." Jeremy begged once again. Damon laughed as he turned around to face Jeremy's puppy face. This time the girl's eyes bulged open as she fully realized whom she was in the presence of.

"I'm not going to help you."

"What?" Jeremy asked stunned he thought Damon of all people would more than gladly erase his memory. Damon crouched down to get to Jeremy's level as he stared into the brown eyes of the boy he basically fathered only a year ago. Despite the altercations they've had Damon didn't hate the boy, so he was going to talk to him from one drunk to another.

"I know it hurts, but that's life. I know we tend to forget that because everyone who dies here can be brought back with some ludicrous plan. But in reality people die, and they don't come back and you just have to learn to live with it. Because that's the only thing you can do." Damon spoke from experience, it was about time these people heard the truth.

"But-" Damon grabbed the back of Jeremy's neck and pulled him in to make sure that he was listening to the words he was about to speak.

"But nothing. You will hold on to the memories, because it's all that's left of her. And you will not let go of them because if you do, it'll be like she never lived at all. And I know that we failed to appreciate her and everything she's did for us, but now is the time to honor her. She deserves that much, she deserves to be remembered." Damon glared at the boy before him and watched him become a man, as he rose to the occasion. Jeremy nodded his head and lifted himself off the ground, Damon along with him. A small smirk played on Damon's lips as they arrived to the same level. Matt was stunned silent and Stefan's chest puffed with pride.

"Well that was touching." The girl said sarcastically from the kitchen counter, she could only dream of having memories of her parents.

"Whose the girl?" Damon snarled without turning around, he could see the blood rise to Jeremy's face and knew that his explanation wasn't going to be one he liked.

"The name is Sarah. Sarah Salvatore I guess." She shrugged with an attempt at being nonchalant. At her declaration both brothers' heads snapped in her direction, Stefan spoke first.

"That's impossible." Stefan said as he studied the girl with intensity. Damon on the other hand wasn't looking at her; he was looking at something else. Something that didn't belong there, something he hadn't seen in a while.

"That's impossible." Damon echoed as he made his way to the kitchen counter.

"Yeah he kinda already said that." Sarah moved with fear that he was coming for her. But he wasn't going after her; he was going for the thing that sat behind the pancake mix. His eyes kept blinking like rapid fire in doubt at what he saw before him. He touched it, a sigh of relief escaped his lungs. He couldn't help but smile as he brought it to his chest and inhaled it almost as if he could breath in the hope it represented. Damon didn't notice or care about all the eyes he had him on now, because he had something far more important. He had Cuddles.

**So what do you think, did it suck ass? If so let me now and I am deeply sorry. Oh and another thing I swear to you I did not rip off Cuddles coming back from TVD, I kinda figured it was going to happen which is why I called it while watching the show, plus I had already wrote Cuddles coming back when it happened. The spell she said went something like, "Don't let this object be bound by the barriers of time or space. Let it find a home where it will be the most appreciated." Ok I'm going to shut the fuck up, I hope you guys have a bomb-errific week, peace out!**


	3. The Shining

So after 3 weeks of staring at a blank computer screen and writing a sentence like every 5 hours I have finally finished the 3rd chapter. Also there will be a lengthy flashback :}

**Previously on my version of The Vampire Diaries: Kai loses all hope when Bonnie falls to her death on The Other Side. Damon was faced with what he thought he was impossible a family member. And he ultimately gains all the hope he would he ever need in the form of a bear.**

Damon didn't have the patience to deal with whatever fiasco was about to occur, because he had more pressing matters to concern himself with. Like the aspect of how Cuddles came to be, he needed the room to be empty so that he can think in privacy. So he cleared the room the only way he knows how, by letting his fangs drop and veins illuminate underneath his eyes.

"I've decided that I'm very hungry and it's about time I drink from the source." And just as he expected he heard a squeal, he didn't even bother to look Sarah in the face.

"What are you doing Damon?" Stefan asked appalled.

"I suggest everyone leave the premises if they enjoy the blood pumping through their veins." Damon voiced the emptiest threat of his life. It almost saddened him how easy it was to convince them that he would murder all of them. They had grown to expect this behavior from him because he was a monster who loved to torment others. Heck even his brother believed that he would slaughter all of them without an afterthought. Within seconds the trio was gone as to be expected, and he was left with only Stefan and Cuddles. Damon turned around slowly and looked his disapproving brother in the eye.

"She's alive."

"Who?" Stefan asked still a bit irked Damon had threatened to kill Matt and the lot of them considering he knew Matt was having a hard time as of late.

"Bonnie."

"What do you mean Bonnie's alive, you just told me she was dead." Stefan asked perplexed his eyebrows furrowing more than ever.

"I thought she was dead. But Cuddles…" Damon said taking a strong whiff of her, she smelt of fire and honey. She smelt exactly like Bonnie, in fact the scent brought up the image of her owner once again.

"I'm assuming Cuddles is the teddy bear you seem to have a crush on." Stefan said slyly, still not buying this Bonnie being alive story. When just a second ago he was so sure of her death.

"Yes and you can call her Ms. Cuddles." Damon retorted, still very much captivated by the magnificent teddy bear before him.

"Uh huh and because of this teddy- I mean Ms. Cuddles I'm suppose to believe that Bonnie is alive?" Stefan asked sure that Damon had finally lost all his marbles.

"Yes, because this is Bonnie's bear!" Damon growled getting fed up with Stefan's stupid questions.

"Ok, then how did it get here?" Stefan asked still doubtful.

"I don't know, she must have sent it to me or something." Damon said not sure how it got here himself, considering the whole different dimension thing.

"If Bonnie could do this why wouldn't she have done this sooner, like when you were stuck there together?" Stefan asked yet another question.

"She didn't have her magic, wait why are you asking all these questions? Just a moment ago you were all high and dandy about finding a way to save her. And now that I tell you she's actually alive, you don't believe me." Damon asked, his face perplexed as he awaited his little brother's response.

" I just don't want you get to your hopes up." Stefan could see how much it meant to Damon the possibility that Bonnie was still alive, but he didn't want him to get his hopes only for them to be crushed once again.

"Look I know it sounds weird, but there was this part of me that didn't feel right ever since I left Bonnie there. At first I thought it was because of her death, but now I'm thinking it's because maybe I left her there alive." Which Damon knew was far worst because who knew what Kai is capable of? Stefan eyed his brother meaningfully and clasped his shoulder.

"I understand, but I still say we get this bear checked out." Stefan said offering a smile.

"Fine if it makes you sleep better at night we'll have Liv or Luke take a look at her. But I'm telling you she's alive I can feel it." Damon smirked at the bear, he wasn't talking baloney he honestly felt that somewhere in this universe Bonnie was alive because there was no possible way she could be dead.

"Ok, wait what happened to her?" Stefan pointed at the Ms. Cuddles outer arm to see that her inseam was broken and some stuffing was falling out. Damon saw it and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head, Bonnie would never let this happen to her. Heck she wouldn't even let Damon touch the dang thing, so it clearly meant that something had gone wrong.

"We have to go now!" Damon said rushing Stefan to the door, they had to get to Liv pronto! The door then busted open and in came Alaric looking like he just got laid. Damon quickly moved past him shoving Alaric out of the way.

"Hey what's happening?" Alaric asked noting the urgency in Damon's demeanor.

"Apparently we got ourselves a teddy bear emergency." Stefan explained leaving Alaric quite confused.

After hours passed Kai finally composed himself. He would find another plan, another way because there was no way he will be stuck here for eternity. He trudged his way downhill slowly making his way to the site of Bonnie's death. Hoping that at least the site of her blood will please him but he knew, inside it wouldn't because Bonnie was his last chance at getting the fuck out of here. He mentally beat himself for not thinking of a different plan. He thought she would come to him for company when she finally lost it but he should have known better the girl was too damn proud. She was to damn proud to allow herself to spend time with him even if it meant her sanity, her survival. Then it finally hit him Bonnie didn't care much for her survival at all, she only cared for others. She cared for Damon's survival and the second he was gone all that hope she yammered on about disappeared and she gladly welcomed death. He should have known when she tried to die in the hospital that it was too easy she truly wanted to die before solitude, imagine after it. How could he have not thought this through? He who thought everything through? He who thinks of everything down to the last excruciating detail? How did he not see the huge gaping hole in his plan why did he think that Bonnie was not capable of her own demise? What had he seen in her, that made him think otherwise? His thoughts disappeared when he had finally made it to the site of her death. There she lied in a pool of her own blood and to Kai's surprise he laughed. It was a genuine laughter that he hadn't felt in the longest of times, it rang against the dark of night. He laughed until he was on his knees begging for air, he had never felt such joy in his entire life. No kill, no cry for help, not anything compared to this spectacular moment. He had tears in his eyes when he finally settled himself from laughing, and crawled over to Bonnie's body and smiled in anticipation. Her body was regenerating, as his usually did when he attempts to kill himself. Her shattered skull had been rebuilding itself, her broken bones realigning themselves. Kai watched over her as if waiting for a Christmas present as her regeneration was coming to an end. Soon her brunette hair started to grow back from her bald scalp, and her jaw snapped back into place. He waited silently because she was complete once again, now he just needed her to wake up. After a while passed he checked to see if her heart was beating and it was, beautifully if he might add. He never thought he would be glad to hear the sound of someone's heartbeat but he was, he was more than glad it brought him utter joy to hear the sound of hope again.

"What the fuck!" Bonnie screamed she was revived at last. Kai moved his face off her chest to analyze her face, and sure enough there was a fire in her eyes. A fire he had seen all to many times in his own eyes. A fire created from the fact that there was no easy way out that this was their eternity. Kai laughed once again, he always did forget the difference between what was funny and what was sad. He lied beside her laughing his ass off. Bonnie sat up in her pool of blood to stare at him, as he laughed maniacally, while lying in her blood.

"What the hell is so damn funny?" She didn't enjoy being laughed at especially when she was on the verge of a breakdown; Kai took a couple of deep breaths before he could finally speak.

"This entire situation."

"How is this funny?" Bonnie asked as Kai began to look pensive while he started waving his arms up and down against the ground, while opening his legs and closing them.

"Well I just find it funny, that everyone always says that if you are good, good things will come to you but if you're bad, bad things will happen. Because that's how the world works and that's karma for you. But here we are the both of us stuck in the same situation. You being all that is good and I being what they call evil, and yet here we are both suffering the same exact punishment." Bonnie lied back down because his words were hitting her hard. It was nowhere close to fair that she was trapped here reliving the same day over and over again.

"I must be losing my mind, because you seem to be speaking the truth."

"I am speaking the truth, because we're living proof. And do you want to know something else?" Kai paused his motions to glance at her, half his face imprinting itself in her blood. Bonnie turned to glance back at him, "What?"

"It's all a crock of bullshit. Everyone constantly tells you that if you're a saint everything will work out in your favor. And it's all a lie whatever happens to you will happen to you, no matter if you have a lust for murder or a heart bursting with sunshine." Bonnie swallowed she always looked out for everyone else in fact that's the very reason she was stuck here. Always saving everyone besides herself, and what did it get her? Nothing, here she was stuck for eternity because she decided to be selfless. She was done being a martyr.

"You're right." Bonnie said turning back to face the sky, and she too started waving her arms and legs against the ground. Kai never looked so satisfied because that was the first time he ever heard someone say he was right, and he joined Bonnie as they waved there arms together.

"So don't you think it's about time you become a little selfish, after all this is your life." Kai said staring up into the starry night sky along with her. Maybe it was because she had died just a few hours ago, maybe it was because her brain wasn't fully developed yet, and maybe it was because the thousands of stars distracted her, or maybe she just officially lost her mind. But Bonnie answered, "Yes it is about time." And in that moment Kai knew he had her convinced. They continued their activity for a while until finally, Kai got up first. And Bonnie followed shortly after, and looked down at the ground.

"Now that's what I call art." Kai explained as they stared down at the two blood angels on the ground, Bonnie's being a lot smaller in size. He grinned as he saw the blood angels, usually he only looked down at one but today there were two side by side. Logically thinking it was creepy that they both basically bathed in her blood but since she threw hersanity into the wind she thought it was actually kinda cute. And a small smile played on her lips and Kai couldn't help but be attracted. Even though all her hair was matted to her head with copious amounts of blood, and her dress was no longer a baby pink but a shredded tie-dye of pink and burgundy, he had never found her hotter.

"Come on kid, I'm going to teach you how to survive." Kai said walking away and Bonnie followed.

"Wait but before that there is something I have to do." Kai said stepping back and closing the space between them as he clasped her chin in his hand and craned his neck. Her breath caught in her throat as he scanned her blood stained face viciously. Even her lips had blood on them and he wasn't a vampire but he could definitely see the appeal. His lips lingered and then broke out into a smile and in half a second he snapped her neck.

"That's for not listening when I told you, I decide whether you get to die." He explained to no one as he hoisted her body over his shoulder and walked off into the night.

As Stefan drove through twilight, Damon inspected Cuddles to see the damage she had done to her but he had another question on his mind.

"Stefan, what was that girl talking about earlier?"

"What girl?" Stefan said eyeing Damon.

"That girl Matt brought with him, that Sarah girl." Damon asked still not looking at Stefan because he didn't want to let him now how much that specific situation was perplexing him. Stefan's face hardened as he returned his gaze to the road.

"What about that girl?"

"Why did she say her last names Salvatore, I mean that's impossible right?" Damon questioned because both he and Stefan had done extensive research on their family line and he knew the line had ended with Zach. No thanks to him nonetheless, and there it was gnawing at him that guilt he had over the years, and the guilt he relieved everyday while he was stuck in 94. Suddenly he found that he had an urge for pancakes again.

"She's obviously lying Damon. Don't you think we would have known if we had any missing relatives." Stefan chuckled and Damon chuckled too, of course the whole idea of it was ludicrous they were century year old vampires for god sake.

"Yeah you're right, it's impossible." Damon replied finally looking at Stefan the only family he'd ever have. After there chuckle died down it was quiet again, and as much as Damon wanted he couldn't shake it from his mind. Sarah Salvatore it had a nice ring to it, hypothetically he could have been her uncle. Her very cool uncle while Stefan would have been the strict father figure type.

"It would have been cool though." Damon whispered into the air that rushed in from the window, they were almost at Whitmore.

"What would have been?" Stefan said softly.

"You know having a niece or something." Damon shrugged nonchalantly. Stefan snapped his neck to look at him, he was having a hard time trying to decipher him.

"I would never think you a family man, considering you're a lone wolf Damon." He didn't like being a lone wolf he would much prefer the company of his friends and family, if he had any.

"I was just saying it would have been cool."

"How cool would it have been to let our hypothetical niece suffer along with us, in this crazy town?" Stefan chuckled but there was an edge to his voice.

"Yeah you're right, nobody else should have to deal with all the crap we deal with here. But maybe if we did have family, we wouldn't have to be here."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm saying what's stopping us from leaving this town? Neither of us are with Elena anymore and no one will really miss us."

"Damon are you getting soft on me?" Stefan grinned.

"No I'm still as hardcore as I was yesterday. I'm just saying after we get Bonnie back, what's stopping us from leaving this place?" Damon said gazing at his brother.

"Wait you're serious?" Stefan asked his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to understand his brother.

"Yes I'm as serious as your brooding face. You were trying to start a new life while I was gone, how bout we try starting a new life now that I'm here." Damon looked at him he was sick of the havoc Mystic Falls had to offer; in fact he's never felt more at peace then when he was playing human alongside Bonnie in 1994 despite it being his personal "hell". He regretted that now constantly saying that was his personal hell even though he had never felt such serenity in his whole life. He regretted telling Bonnie she was useless, and that she'll never get her powers. He regretted not believing in her at all when she had proven herself time and time again. He then stared at Cuddles and made himself a vow that when he brought Bonnie back he would never doubt her again.

"Damon, even if I were to agree to this and run away with you to somewhere far away. I have a feeling you won't want to leave, once she returns." Damon opened his mouth to retaliate wondering exactly what his brother thought had happened between him and Bonnie on the other side. But he quickly shut it as no words had come out, yet. Damon didn't even know what happened between him and Bonnie. If he had to put a label on their relationship, he wouldn't have the damnest clue what to say. He was sure they were somewhere in the friend category but what type of friends were they? Would he consider her a best friend? And now that he thought about it of course she was his best friend, she knew everything there was to know about him. Heck she might even know more than Stefan did. And someone with that much information on him had to be his best friend in the whole world or else she was a threat. But there was a time when he could picture Bonnie killing him heck she had tried to multiple times but now he was sure that she would never. In fact she would protect him as he would her. So the real question here, was what is Damon to Bonnie? Stefan raised a brow as he watched the gears in Damon's head turn.

"It's complicated." Damon huffed, as that was the only way he could explain it.

"It always is." Stefan grinned and Damon wished he could wipe the little smug look off his face.

Her eyes fluttered wide open, as she inhaled life into her lungs yet again. Bonnie got up quickly she was lying on the Salvatore sofa in front of the fireplace.

"Oh goody it's nice to see you're finally up from your little nap, suppers' on the table." Kai said without looking up from the book he was reading, as he sat quite comfortably in a lavish armchair.

"Why you little-"

"I suggest you stock up on your energy, because you're going to need it." Kai said cutting her off.

"Why did you kill me?" Bonnie growled, as she rubbed her neck still sore from it cracking. Kai paused and gazed at her for a second.

"You know you're cute when you're angry." Kai grinned; she was still covered in blood. He figured if he had bothered to clean her, she would have probably flayed him alive. Plus he likes her covered in blood anyways it made her look as tainted on the outside as he was on the inside. Bonnie swore she'd set him on fire, right after she finally showered and changed. The nightgown she had on barely covered anything considering it was completely shredded. She got up to and headed her way towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"To clean myself, in case you haven't noticed I'm covered in blood." Bonnie cracked sarcastically.

"Oh trust me I've noticed, but I want you to eat supper first." Kai said plainly after casting a small glimpse at her.

"I don't care about what you want. I'm going to take a shower." Bonnie finished with a huff and swerved back to her original direction.

"I strongly suggest you eat supper first." Kai said but there was a darkness to his voice this time. Bonnie reversed herself and made her way to him in a swift motion.

"Are you threatening me?" Bonnie questioned him, her demeanor ready to swing a fist if needed.

"Call it whatever you want,_ babe_. Just know that if you don't eat your supper first there will be consequences." Kai explained without so much as a blink, as he continued to read.

"First of all never call me _babe_ again. Second just because I agreed to you "teaching me how to survive" doesn't mean I'm going to put up with your shit. Because you do not own me." Bonnie growled inches away from his face, if she was going to live her own life, she was done taking orders.

"First off I don't know what this means, but I'm not sure I like it." Kai said attempting to mimic Bonnie's air quotation marks.

"Second of all, I will be teaching you the 7 Lessons to Survival. Essentially giving you the cheat codes to life. Lastly, I'm in charge whether you like it or not. So go eat your supper. _Babe_." Kai said accepting her challenge and closing in on the space between them. Bonnie glared into his grey eyes, and she could see that this was all some big game to him. So she raised her chin and smiled.

"Fine, I'll go eat supper." Bonnie turned towards the kitchen this time. For a second, Kai's face fell in disappointment, but then turned upright once again because he was and would always be the one in charged. He sat down and began to read his book again. Shortly after Bonnie came back with her plate of spaghetti, and decided to sit on his lap. It was quite out of her comfort zone but she wanted to play along. Kai was surprised to say the least but quickly accommodated her.

"I'm so glad to see you finally saw my way."

"Well you are in charge. Right?" Bonnie said stabbing her fork into her spaghetti and spinning it around.

"That is correct." Kai stated while licking his lips.

"Eat this for me? I want to make sure it's not poisoned." Bonnie begged holding the fork up to his mouth. Kai rolled his eyes they had been through this before, but he did like the idea of being fed. So he allowed her too, all the while not breaking eye contact with her. Bonnie swiftly put her hand under her plate to grab something.

"Don't forget to swallow." She strained each syllable without ever breaking contact with him. He made a show of swallowing and that's went she went for it. She pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the throat. Immediately blood began to pour as he made incoherent sounds, trying to yank the knife out.

"Like I said, never call me babe." Bonnie smiled as she got up and placed her plate of spaghetti to the side. Out of curiosity she lifted the book he was reading to see the title. There on the cover in black letters read **The Shining**. And she couldn't help but laugh.

"Figures." Then she danced her way to the bathroom, as Kai ruined the precious carpet from bleeding to death.

Damon banged on the door of Liv's dorm room for the umpteenth time. Until he finally heard steps on the other side of the door; that had yet to be opened.

"Somebody better be dying or I swear to god!" Liv croaked as she swung open the door. If her mane was unruly before, it had definitely taken a life of its own now.

"Wow I never thought I'd see a lion this up close." Damon exclaimed at the site of her mane and attempted to pet it, but she growled.

"What the hell do you guys want?" Liv asked she hadn't spoken to the pair of brothers in almost a year.

"Sorry my brother here has never been to good with manners. We need your help." Stefan said with his usual charm.

"I wasn't offering any." Liv said already closing the door on them, but Damon pushed his arm against it, leaving a small space open.

"Listen Goldilocks I know it's late but I need your help…please." Liv was intrigued to say the least considering the last time Damon wanted something out of her he had decided to torture her. But now he was begging so she opened the door. Damon and Stefan entered both surprised that Damon's tactic had actually worked.

"You guys are lucky my roommate isn't here."

"This roommate of yours won't be coming back anytime soon, will she?" Stefan inquired worried that she might walk in on whatever they'll be doing.

"No she usually doesn't come back when she goes out to bang her boyfriend." Stefan didn't have much of a reply to that, but the subject of sex did bring a somber smirk to Damon's features.

"So what exactly do guys need me for, and what's with the teddy bear?" Liv wondered as she saw how Damon had a tight grasp on it.

"Actually that's what we need help with. This teddy bear was sent to us from what we believe is another dimension." Stefan explained.

"And her name is Ms. Cuddles." Damon expressed pointedly.

"Whoa way to get all Interstellar on me." Liv joked she wasn't sure if there were other dimensions in the universe but she was willing to go along with their story.

"I'm sorry what?" Damon asked not having the slightest clue what she was talking about.

"The movie with Matthew McConaghey in space?" Liv implored considering the movie was pretty successful.

"In case you've forgotten I've been dead for the past 5 months. " Damon feigned a smile, how was it possible that people managed to forget this.

"Yeah sorry about that." Liv admitted she had felt guilty for not being able to save him when they lost The Other Side.

"You know what I forgive you, as long as you help us out." Damon said and he meant it. If she had performed the spell long enough to save him then Bonnie would have been left alone. Stefan raised his brow at him and Damon mentally told him to shut the hell up.

"Ok, so what do you want me to do, a flash before the eyes spell?" Liv said, she considered it to be the perfect spell for this ordeal.

"What exactly does this spell entail?" Stefan wondered considering he never heard of the spell before.

"Basically it's a spell that allows us to see the life span of the object as it flashes before our eyes." Liv explained with ease considering everything was basically suggested in the title.

"Yeah that would be perfect." Damon smirked because the faster he satisfied Stefan's need to confirm Bonnie's living the closer he would be to saving her. Even though Damon had already confirmed it to himself, she was alive and no one can tell him otherwise. Liv nodded and went to set up her witchy woo woo things, after a few minutes she was ready.

"Hand me the bea- I mean Ms. Cuddles." Liv corrected herself while leaving her hand out awaiting Cuddles.

"Be careful with her." Damon warned handing her the bear, Liv was the first person he had allowed to hold it beside himself. She placed the bear on top of her witchy woo woo symbol and all the candles in the room light.

"Now each one of you hold on to a part of the ted- Ms. Cuddles. If you want to see what happened." Liv said placing her hand on Ms. Cuddles head, Stefan nodded in understanding as he grabbed on to one of Cuddles' legs.

"Wait, before you start you have to swear that whatever you see here you speak of to no one." Damon demanded he didn't want her spreading the word about Bonnie, and he also didn't want to hear her shedding light on the time he spent with Bonnie.

"Okay." Liv hesitated know unsure of what she was getting herself into and what this bear had seen.

"Swear to me." Damon countered.

"I swear." Liv responded with the same amount of urgency as him. Damon had no choice but to take her word and then he latched himself onto Cuddles' arm. Liv closed her eyes and began to chant.

"Vitam ante oculos mico me. Vitam ante oculos mico me. Vitam ante oculos mico me." The candle lights burned brighter then ever, and a breeze brushed through the witch's mane or at least attempted too. And then it began. Damon was no longer in Liv's dorm room he was inside a box. He couldn't move, of course he couldn't move because technically he was a stuffed bear.

_ Then the top of the box began to rattle and he was yanked out, where he now stared at a pair of emerald eyes he could recognize anywhere. The person holding him was a little girl who had the biggest curly hair. She had to be around 2 years old and her smile was absolutely infectious._

"_Mommy, Daddy I love it!" She squealed as she ran to her hug both her parents._

"_I'm glad you do baby." Her father laughed as he saw how much joy it brought his daughter._

"_Now what are you going to name it?" Her mom smiled running her hand through the little girl's hair._

"_MMmhmm." The little girl frowned as she scrunched up her little nose, deep in thought, her parents giggling at her expression. But that didn't faze the little girl as she looked Damon straight in the eyes and then broke out in a wide smile._

"_I'm gonna name her Ms. Cuddles! And I'm never gonna let her go." The little girl proclaimed as she hugged Damon aka Cuddles tightly. Damon couldn't help but smile._

_Then memories flashed by of the little girl playing with Cuddles and taking her everywhere she went. Everyday she would wake up and poke Ms. Cuddles to see if she was awake and every night she would whisper good night to her in her ear. One of her favorite things to do was have tea parties with her, while the little girl dressed up in her Mommy's heels. She would serve Cuddles tea and then dance to her Daddy's Walkman. She even took Cuddles with her when her and her mother would do gardening. Although her mom told her that she should leave Cuddles inside because she'll get dirty. The little girl was a ball of energy but when it came to gardening with her mother, she was always calm. She loved watching the flowers grow it always surprised her how rapid the orchids grew and she claimed it was all magic and her mother would just laugh. Many nights her and Cuddles would sit on her father's lap and hear stories about this world and different worlds. One of her favorite stories he read to her was called Walk Two Moons. On the weekends she would either sleep over her Grams. Where she stuffed her face silly with an assortment of cookies, and they would watch the night sky together and see the stars dance. Or she would spend it at one of her friends' houses where they just chatted away on the porch or had intense pillow fights. And before Damon knew it the girl was a day away from turning 6. As she so constantly reminded him, because that little girl could talk the ear off of anyone. She had spent the day in excitement because tomorrow was her birthday and she was gonna have lots of cake. Right now the little girl was asleep considering it had to be past midnight. Her mother crept in and she had a jacket on as if she was going somewhere. Her mom sat down next to her and ran her hand through the girl's curly hair gently as she always did. They were tears in the woman's eyes. Damon now knew what was coming next._

"_Bonnie, Mommy's got something to tell you. I'm leaving trust me not because I want to but because I have too. I don't want you to ever think I'm leaving because of you. Ok because that's a lie and it will always be a lie. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever planted and watched grow. No flower compares to you, because you are magic baby. You always have been. Now I want you to keep on dreaming and remember nothing can limit you not even the sky. " The mother whispered lovingly in to the little girl's ear. Then she kissed the little girl's forehead as tears cascaded down her face. "One last thing, Mommy loves you." The lady smiled broken heartedly as she made her departure but before did she lay a single orchid on Cuddles ear for the little girl to find. But the little girl had yet to awaken until she heard the sound of screaming downstairs. She grabbed Cuddles and ran to the top of the stairs as she watched the door slam and her mother disappear. _

"_Mommy!" The little girl cried as she ran down the steps._

"_Honey, you're supposed to be sleeping." Her father's voice hoarse and tears in his eyes._

"_Daddy, where'd Mommy go?" The little girl sobbed into his shoulder. But the Dad couldn't find it in him to answer; he just walked up the stairs, stroking her back along the way. But the little girl kept on repeating the same question over and over for what Damon later learned was for months until she realized that she'll never get an answer._

"_It's ok, baby. It's ok, baby. It'll all be better in the morning." He said as he rocked her back and forth and she held on to the orchid she had found. But it wasn't better it wasn't ever better. Eventually the little girl stopped asking about her Mom and she stopped going to her mother's greenhouse. And her Dad stopped reading to her and went out of town a lot. She found herself sleeping over her Grams and her friends frequently. One day when she was 9, her little blonde best friend was throwing one of her many sleepover parties, and Bonnie was getting ready to go to sleep._

"_Don't you think you're a little to old to sleep with Cuddles? I mean I don't even play with dolls anymore." The little blonde girl in the tiara said._

"_Leave her alone Caroline, if she wants to sleep with Cuddles she can sleep with Cuddles." A little girl with long brunette hair said from her sleeping bag._

"_Thanks Elena." The little girl smiled at the brunette._

"_What are best friends for?" Elena smiled back._

"_Hey I'm her best friend too, I'm just saying we're third graders now and teddy bears are totally first grade." Caroline said while shoving herself in her sleeping bag and Elena and the little girl rolled their eyes and laughed. _

_The next day the little girl had a chat with Cuddles, as she sat him on her bed._

"_Cuddles I'm sorry but you heard what Caroline said. Teddy bears are totally first grade. I mean you remember when everyone brought their teddy bears to class, now I'm the only one who stills brings you everywhere. I mean for godsakes I'm a third grader now; we have to be mature about this. Now don't get all mopey on me." She said crossing her arms as she always did. But after awhile she cracked and sat next to Cuddles on the bed._

"_Look it's not you, it's me. I still love you but like Grams says too much of something is a bad thing. And we can always hang out after school." She finished as she just orchestrated her first break up. At first she couldn't help but sneak Cuddles in her backpack from time to time. But slowly she forgot Cuddles especially after she became a cheerleader. Then at long last her father came home one day and noticed Cuddles was left in the pantry after Bonnie went to answer the phone 6 months ago. He decided to pack him up and send him to the land of forgotten toys, which was a box in the basement downstairs. Then in a flash Cuddles was sitting having a tea party again, as if the little girl were two again. Except no one was there. Cuddles was left alone for decades. Until the day, they were footsteps marching there way up the stairs and in came a woman with sneaker wedges and short straight hair. It was Bonnie, the Bonnie Damon had come to know all to well. She squealed much like she did the first time she saw Cuddles. She ran to her and squeezed the life out of her._

"_This is unbelievable!" She cried. She had something else in her hands; the grimoire. That night she slept in her old bed with Cuddles snuggled by her side, and the next day she skipped all the way to the Salvatore Boardinghouse to say she was in a good mood was to say the least, she was in a spectacular mood. But when she walked into the house she heard Whatta Man blasting from the kitchen, with the smell of pancakes in the air. And their Damon met himself for the first time, dancing with a bottle of liquor. Bonnie clears her throat and Damon does so as well as he stops dancing immediately as he was caught in the act._

"_I didn't know you cooked."_

"_I don't. How'd you sleep? Me not good, my 1994 mattress was very lumpy. Whatchu got there?" Damon asked while flipping pancakes._

"_Oh Ms. Cuddles. I lost her when I was nine. But I went into my house last night and there she was. I also found this at my Grams's house. Her old grimoire."_

_Damon had looked at Bonnie strangely when she introduced Cuddles and Damon wish he could remember what had run through his head in that immediate moment._

"_Yeah well I found this. I drunk it last year when Ric died." Damon paraded himself to change the cd playing. Bonnie seated Cuddles on a stool, and walked towards him._

"_So we're in this snapshot of another time or something. Everything that existed in 1994 still exists."_

"_For better or for worse." And then music started to play until it was paused no doubt by Bonnie._

"_Listen there was a time when I couldn't practice magic. This grimoire taught me a lot. Maybe I can reteach myself." Then the music started playing again._

"_If you're still a witch, which with our luck and your skill probably ain't the case." _

"_Would a little support kill you?" Damon didn't have to see himself to know that he was a dick for saying that. And he knew that Stefan was probably judging him right now. As the months went by Cuddles saw them bicker incessantly and Damon realized that it usually began because he was bashing Bonnie as she tried to regain her magic. Everyday he told her that she was incapable and that they were stuck there forever. Damon got sick himself as he watched the asshole that he was. I mean even when they played monopoly he always cheated and why couldn't he just let her win at Tetris just once. What he hated watching the most was when they got into the biggest arguments and Bonnie left. And like Kai had reminded him she had left him 13 times. And each time she would run to her Grams house with Cuddles in hand, even though she knew Damon preferred it when she slept at the Boardinghouse. But she was too angry and torn to stay and he understood because he had been a piece of shit. When she finally made it home she would lock herself up, and snuggle with Cuddles._

"_I don't understand why he can't believe in me. I mean I know it's Damon and all. But if he really thinks we'll be stuck here for all eternity, the least he could do is stop being such an ass. But Damon is never going to change and that's why I'm not going back. I'll go to Mexico or something. Yeah I'll go to Mexico." Bonnie huffed. And the next day she would try being alone but Damon could see it drove her mad._

"_I know what you're thinking Cuddles. This is what I always do. But maybe he'll believe this time. Maybe he'll change. People can't be the same forever." And that's how Bonnie always made it back before sundown the next day and Damon never, not once apologized. But Damon wasn't always a dick, they had shared nice moments too. Like when Bonnie decided to give him a lesson in cooking but they ended up making a mess because Damon forgot to put the top on the blender, or any of there other cooking lessons. The time they both got drunk because they both felt especially low that day, and ended up having a dance competition. Bonnie was the clear winner but Damon insisted that he was the champ. Bonnie just laughed and then they both laughed deliriously for an outrageous amount of time until they finally calmed down, and Bonnie had found herself comfortable in Damon's lap. Damon started telling tales of his past and Bonnie listened until her eyes could no longer stay open. Damon carried her and Cuddles up to bed, and before he left she whispered something that he still remembers._

"_If this is hell it isn't that bad." Damon stood there smiling like a fool._

"_Yeah you're right." He whispered back but she was already long gone. There was that time they played hide and seek and Bonnie kept on looking in the wrong direction. He knows now that it was because Kai was playing along with them. The time he decided to teach Bonnie how to play the piano and to his surprise she was a quick learner. Heck there was even a time, when Bonnie had even convinced him to paint her toenails. He still doesn't understand how she persuaded him to do so. But he'd have to say his favorite moment was when he taught Bonnie how to hotwire a car and they drove all the way to the beach. For one day they forgot they were imprisoned and just lived life. Soon came the moment when Damon left Bonnie and he only heard it since Cuddles was inside Bonnie's backpack but it hurt just the same. Damon held his breath as he waited for Bonnie to say something. But the only thing he heard was Kai growling and muttering to himself. Damon waited with bated breath to hear Bonnie speak again._

"_Look who finally decided to wake up. __You know you've been out for awhile now and I just keep on thinking about what you did earlier. And all I can say is how could you have possibly been so stupid!" Still Damon waited, until finally he heard her. He inhaled sharply at the sound of her voice, as if he were breathing for the very first time._

"_I wouldn't have expected you to understand." His girl was alive. Later he could hear that she made a run for it, his girl was alive and kicking. Next time he saw her face he had never felt so relived but that relief quickly washed away when he saw the amount of blood that she was losing. But she did nothing besidse lay down._

"_I love you Cuddles, I hope you know that." It was then he realized that she was giving up._

"_What do you think he's doing right now, Cuddles?" She asked her green eye glaring at him. At first Damon thought she was talking about Jeremy._

"_You're right he's probably celebrating with Elena and Stefan." And then a small smile formed on her lips and Damon realized she was talking about him._

"_I'm ready." She said closing her eyes, for what seemed the final time._

"No you're not ready. You're not ready. Bonnie get back up!" Damon growled at her even though a part of him knew she could not hear. He literally sat there watching her die and there was nothing he could do about it. Damon was about to lose it when Kai came barging in, and he had never been happier to see the bastard. _Quickly he checked her heartbeat and then peeled of her shirt._

"_You don't get to die, remember. We're stuck here together." Kai said as he started cleaning her wound. And as aggravating as it was watching Kai stitch her up Damon was still glad that he had saved her. A few hours later she had awaken only to be pissed at the fuck that she had, which only saddened Damon more. Damon soon watched Kai suck some of the power out of her and his found his hand wrapped in a tight fist. The next day Bonnie awoke to Kai sleeping next to her and she thought it was Damon. And Damon wished it had been, wished that they we're both still stuck in 1994 together. But instead Damon was watching Kai attempt to flirt, which made his stomach want to flip inside out. Eventually she left the room but when she returned she had a look of confusion on her face._

"_Cuddles, he's gone. He left just like that, and he won't be coming back." Damon could tell she was slightly bothered._

"_He told me to beep him whenever I want, as if." She smiled but that was the last time she did so. If Damon had hated watching her give up, he was being ripped him apart from what he saw next. In just one week Bonnie had lost it, she was talking to voices inside her head and not Cuddles either. She didn't sleep, eat, nothing, she wasn't living she just gave up. Lost it completely if he hadn't known better she looked like she belonged in a mental asylum. Especially the day she launched out of bed and decided to hike up a mountain with her bare feet. Damon didn't have the slightest clue as to what she was doing but a fear crept inside of him. She hade made it to the top and neared the edge of what looked like a cliff. The sunset was gorgeous, but Damon had a strange feeling he knew what Bonnie intended on doing there. He then realized what he was fearing._

"_Are you ready Cuddles?"_

"No Cuddles isn't ready and neither are you!" Damon found himself screaming.

"_I'm sorry Damon."_ He lost his ability to speak as he heard her apologize to him. Why was she apologizing to him, when he didn't deserve any apology? Why was he of all people going to be her last thought. Then he saw her move closer to the edge.

"No Bonnie. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was a dick. I'm sorry I left you there alone. Just don't do this ok. Please do not do this!" He couldn't see her he could only see the sun setting, but he pleaded anyways. Maybe if he saw her face she could somehow hear him. He knew there wasn't a chance but he hoped that there was.

"_Don't you dare take another step! Bonnie turn around… please."_

"_Kai?"_

"_How about you take a step back." As Bonnie turned around Damon was allowed to see his face. The kid was the devil but right now Damon thought he was a fucking godsend as Kai tried to convince her to back away from the edge while closing the distance between them._

"_How did you find me?"_

"_You didn't think I'd let you out of my sight, did you?"_

"_You've been watching me?"_

"_Of course I was, in the hopes that you might have tried to escape, but instead you decided to lose your marbles." It was true Kai had been watching her she might not have noticed but he had lurked in the shadows as she lost her mind. _

"_There is no escape besides death." Bonnie whispered and Damon swallowed hard._

"_Bonnie Bennett. I thought you were stronger than most, I thought you of all people could fight this. But I guess I was wrong." Kai laughed and Damon sneered at him._

"_Even the strong fall." This was true because Bonnie was the strongest person Damon knew and yet her she stood on the brink of her own demise._

"_Trust me I know. I warned you about this place didn't I."_

"_Yeah you did." Damon could hear the smile in her voice as she said it._

"_Don't fucking do it." _

"Please don't do it Bonnie." Damon cried he needed her to be alive.

"_It's too late." Then she jumped and Damon felt his intestines swim. But by luck Kai had gotten a hold onto Cuddles foot and there was still hope. The only thing in Damon's peripheral vision was Bonnie and the ground far below._

"_How many times do I have to tell you, that the only way you will die here is when I decide I want to murder you!" Damon could care less about Kai's threats because as of now he was rooting for him. As much as it killed Damon to realize Kai was Bonnie's last hope._

"_Let go of Cuddles!" Damon could feel himself ripping on the outside but it was nothing compared to how he was being ripped apart on the inside._

"_Don't you think it's funny you value this bear's life more than your own."_

"_I said let her go."_

"_No." Damon gazed into her emerald eyes as he hair whipped around and begged her not to let go of Cuddles. He could tell her mind was racing a mile a minute until she began to chant something._

"_What?" He heard Kai say._

"_Goodbye." Then Damon felt her unlatch her hand from his paw. And the most beautiful smile graced her face as she let go._

"NOOOO!" The sound broke free from somewhere deep inside of him. He couldn't help the tears that he shed. What hurt him most was how free she looked as she fell to the ground. She looked like an angel free falling her way down to earth. There was something hauntingly beautiful about it, because that's exactly what she was an angel who had lost her wings that had fell on earth. Her last smile imprinted itself in his brain. He didn't see her hit the ground because a second later Cuddles was sitting behind the pancake batter on the counter, watching Damon attempt to drink himself to death.

Damon released Cuddles paw, because he already knew the rest of the story.

"I'm sorry." Liv announced she didn't now that Damon and Bonnie were close but after all that she saw she could tell that the one who would hurt most was Damon.

"Yeah me too." Damon croaked as he wiped the tears away and sniffled. The next second he had regained his mask of blank arrogance.

"I guess we'll be leaving but remember not a word of this to anyone, as far as anyone knows Bonnie was never there she passed peacefully when the Other Side went down." Damon reminded her, he couldn't afford for anyone to find about this, Liv nodded in understanding. Then Damon grabbed Ms. Cuddles and bolted out the door not waiting for Stefan to follow. But Stefan did follow and stopped him when they had reached outside.

"Don't you wanna talk about what we just saw in there?" Stefan inquired with his eyes full of compassion and pity, which only infuriated Damon he didn't want to be pitied.

"No, I don't want to _talk_ about it!" Damon sneered why on earth would he want to talk about the horrible things he just witnessed.

"Damon I know it's hard-" Stefan began.

"No it's not hard Stefan. It's, it's, it's unfathomable." Damon uttered. Even though he saw it with his very own eyes he still couldn't believe it. He had concrete proof before his very opulent eyes and yet he could not and did not want to see it for what it is.

"I know but we have to talk about it. Maybe it'll make you feel better." Stefan retorted it pained him to know of Bonnie's demise as well.

"_Feel better_? Please indulge me as to how it could make me feel better, because I feel like I've been hit by a goddamn train!" There was no way he would be feeling better any time soon, possibly not ever.

"I don't want you to close back up again, I mean today is the only day we've had an actual conversation since you returned. I'm worried about you so if you need to talk, I'm here." Stefan explained he feared his brother would crawl back into his shell that he had just so barely managed to escape from today.

"You wanna talk, okay let's talk." Damon mocked him as he showcased himself listening, by craning his neck and ear towards Stefan's lips. Stefan refused to answer him; to bow down to his incessant provocation.

"What baby brother, cat got your tongue?" Damon smirked mischievously although it didn't even remotely match the look in his eyes.

"Don't do this Damon. Not now." Stefan could see where this was heading.

"Why not? I think right now is the perfect time to do this." Damon smirked yet again as he invaded Stefan's personal space trying to goad him.

"I know this is hurting you, especially after what I saw in there. And I'm sorry Bonnie's dead." Stefan apologized as if it were his fault because he felt that part of it was. The second Damon heard him utter those words something inside Damon snapped, leaving him unhinged. Damon lunged for Stefan's v-neck and reeled him in.

"Don't you ever say those words again." Damon threatened but this time it wasn't empty it was full of rage and truth, Stefan had unlocked the Pandora's box inside of Damon except this box was different this box didn't have any hope after the infinite streams of monsters.

"But it's the truth." Stefan retorted as he shoved Damon off of him.

"Whether you like it or not!" Stefan finished as he glared at Damon. Damon swallowed hard, as he felt completely lost but he focused on his brother. He made his way to him leaving mere centimeters between them as he jabbed his finger into Stefan's chest.

"I don't care what you think you know. Never say it again." Damon growled he was untamed and on edge, Stefan could see that Damon's mind was in the midst of a storm. Then Damon turned and walked away towards any destination as long as he was away from him, from his words, from this moment, from this truth. Stefan called after him but Damon didn't hear because he could not hear anything other than the vulgar noises in his head as he fought himself. Stefan didn't follow him because he knew his brother and he needed time, time to adjust, and time to let the hard unsettling truth sink in.

Damon continued to walk off into the distasteful night, dwelling within himself when something hit him; something doused with immense amounts of vervain. The world started to spin as fast as his mind was until everything was a just a huge swirl of greys and blacks, and his insides were sent on fire.

"Remember me." A voice asked as Damon forced himself to look up only to find a grinning Tripp staring back at him.

"Yeah I thought so." Damon could see a foot coming down on him and then it went all black.

Bonnie was on an empowered high from leaving Kai dead on the living room floor. In fact some could argue she had never felt better. She hummed in the shower, she had been there for awhile considering how peaceful it was letting the water fall against her skin and rinsing all the blood away.

"My name is Bonnie. I'm so very

Fly oh my, it's a little bit scary

Boys wanna marry, looking at my derriere

And you can stare but if you touch it Imma bury

Pretty as picture

Sweeter than a swisher

Mad cause I'm cuter than the girl that's with you

I don't gotta talk about it baby you can see it

But if you want I'll be happy to repeat it." Bonnie sang with a sweet smile on her face as she turned off the water, still surprised she hadn't wrinkled into a prune. She pulled on her bathrobe as she sauntered to the mirror and continued to sing.

"All eyes on me when I walk in

No question that this girl's a 10

Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful" She danced in front of the mirror that shower had brought her back to life because she looked like a zombie before, sure her eye bags were still there but those would go away once she got a good nights sleep.

"Don't hate me cause I'm –" Her mouth clenched shut as she saw Kai standing behind her with gauze wrapped around his neck.

"Beautiful. Gotta say never heard of this song before but I'm a fan." Kai finished as he sang into her collarbone.

"What do you want?" Bonnie exhaled as she began to comb through her damp hair.

"Before you get all hostile again I came her to tell you congratulations." Kai whispered in her ear and then smiled at her as they eyed each other in the mirror.

"For what?" Bonnie paused combing her hair to await his answer.

"For passing my test." Kai exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Are you trying to say me killing you was a test?" Bonnie snorted as she started to comb her hair again.

"In a way. In order to survive you can't be submissive, you have to be in control of your own life. If you had eaten the spaghetti you would have failed." Kai explained.

"Uh huh." Bonnie said vaguely as she was focused on moisturizing right now.

"So that means you're ready for your first lesson, which starts now." Kai finished as he gagged her with a chloroform hand towel. Bonnie fought but it was useless in a few seconds she was out like a light.

"Now how's that song go again? My eyes on you when you walk in. No question that this girl's a 10." Kai sang as he examined her face to make sure she was down and then through her over his shoulder for the second time this night.

"I'll be honest you sang it better. Oh and don't worry about where we're going, you're gonna love it." Kai snickered to himself he had big plans ahead for the both of them.

Damon was still in loopy town as he tried to make sense of the images spinning around in front of him.

"Damon, we have got to stop meeting like this." The words coaxed in an accent chuckled. Damon tried to register where the voice was coming from.

"I've been thinking maybe this is our thing. Regular people have songs they dance too or a running joke. But we're not regular people. So maybe this is it. Maybe us getting held against our will and trapped in deathly situations by petty humans, maybe that's our thing." The accent surmised as it was deep in thought. Damon finally pinpointed where the voice was coming from and stared at the spot until everything made sense.

"Enzo?" Damon questioned as Enzo did still sorta look like lasagna to him.

"Yes it is I. I've got to say despite the circumstances it's great to see you, mate. Although you don't look in the best condition but then again I can't really blame you I must look horrid myself." Enzo continued, he figured he might as well talk there was nothing better to do.

"Shutup. And tell me what's going on here?" Damon winced as he forced himself to sit up but every part of his body still lingered in a fire.

"Make up your mind do you want me to shut up or speak up?" Enzo laughed he could tell he was pestering Damon but once again he had nothing better to do. Damon responded with a glare of death.

"Relax I'm just trying to lighten the mood." Enzo smiled somberly as he laid his head against the wall, why was it that he was always trapped.

"Why are we here?" Damon asked still trying to sort his brain out. As if on cue, in came Tripp from a door Damon hadn't noticed before. Tripp watched the two of them like caged animals at a zoo.

"Glad to see you're awake. Damon is it?" Tripp asked awaiting confirmation but Damon just sneered at him.

"Anyways to answer your question you too are here today, because I need you. Considering you and you're gang of monsters slaughtered all my friends." Tripp paused as he remembered seeing every single one of his friends die.

"Frankly if we're being honest here, if you hadn't tried to kill us first that whole situation could have probably been avoided." Enzo blinked.

"And if you really think that we're going to be your new vampire hunter buddies, you got another thing coming for ya." Damon added.

"Nah that's not what I need you for, I need you guys for something else. Don't worry though in time you'll know. Now you two get a good nights rest we have a long week ahead of us." Tripp stated as he hit the lights and left Damon in Enzo in a blanket of darkness.

The cold was what woke her up. Shivers were raking her small body as she wrestled her eyes open. When they ultimately opened her view was of the night sky, it was littered with stars. But she didn't get lost in the moment because she remembered what Kai had said that this was her first lesson. So she sat up only to find out that she had been tied up with about 3 yards of some heavy-duty rope. So she squirmed her way into seating position only to learn that she was in a canoe in the middle of a quarry and her rope was tied to a weight that looked like it was extremely heavy. She sat there confused trying to figure out what the hell was the plan or the lesson here. It was quiet except for the crickets singing as they always did. She sighed as she figured she'd probably be freezing her ass on this canoe for a while, unless Kai's lesson was that she had to get out.

"Lesson One: Expect the Unexpected!" She heard Kai's voice boom through the night he was watching her. But she didn't get it was she suppose to expect that he'd gag her and strap her to a canoe. But then she broke out of her thoughts when she heard something, something besides the crickets' song, something was ticking. A ticking that was directly behind, her head snapped to the source. It looked like a timer duck taped to something red with a bunch of wires. The numbers were counting down and right now they were at 1:43. Her eyes bulged at of her head as she realized what she was looking at.

"Holy shit! That's a bomb!" Bonnie screamed, she highly doubted her body could recover if she were to be blown to pieces.

1:37

**Next up on my version of The Vampire Diaries (if I'm not to lazy): Damon and Enzo have a conversation that may or may not renew Damon's faith in miracles. The gang learns that the devious two have been kidnapped and have to come up with a plan. On the Other Side Kai pushes Bonnie to new extremes.**

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Leave me reviews, send me asks on Tumblr or whatever because I love hearing you guys feedback. Oh and the song Bonnie was singing was Pretty Girl Rock by Keri Hilson.


	4. Expect the Unexpected

**Sorry I've taken forever my heads been clouded and I am sad about Kai being left in 1903. But hope you enjoy and this chapter is only Bonkai didn't have the inspiration to write the rest.**

The sense of urgency erupted inside of a beleaguered Bonnie as she realized she was literally racing against time. She stood up with the obvious intent of jumping into the quarry and swimming to safety but she was quickly reminded that she was entwined with rope and strapped to a weight. Her eyes raced to the timer once again 1:29. She had approximately one minute to propel herself into the water. With immense speed she bent her knees and latched her hands on to the rope that strapped her to the weight, and yanked for her dear life. Her teeth grinded against each other as she yanked with all the muscle she could muster. But the weight didn't budge, in fact it seemed pretty content and comfortable in where it was positioned. But she continued to yank until her hands blistered into a scarlet red from rope burn. A yelp escaped from her lips as she paused to examine her fragile, smooth hands that were now oozing of a burgundy red liquid. She stared at her stubborn obstacle once again but the thing had refused to move, it had taken to calling the corner of the canoe home.

0:41.

"Oh my god I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die." She cried as her eyes met the stars that mockingly twinkled above. A tear made a trail down her face. Her hand met the skin on her face and wiped away whatever had been shed as she cleared her sinuses. She inhaled in resolution; she did not have the luxury to have a mental breakdown right now. She crouched down on her knees and placed both hands on the side, on what now dictated her fate. Her memory flashed towards Matt when he had taught her how to lift any object. She gritted her teeth once again and lifted. To her surprising delight she had lift it about an inch off the canoe when she learned that this weight might actually weigh a ton.

0:23.

At the sight of the mere seconds she had left, adrenaline surged through her body.

"Lift with your knees not your back." She repeated to herself like Matt had taught her various times before and each time she would start with lifting with her back. But this time she knew better, she straightened her back as her spine came into alignment. Every vein and muscle was utilized as she clenched her teeth and lifted. Beads of perspiration cascaded down her face, as the engine that was her body forced itself to lift. A smile of disbelief spread across her face as she registered that somehow she had managed to pick up the impossible weight. In fact in her sudden joy it had become almost weightless as she hoisted it into the water. She exhaled not noticing that she had been holding her breath.

0:06

With a fascinating agility of an Olympic diver she took a deep breath and dived head first into the water right after the object that nearly caused her, her own demise. As she plummeted down into the depths of the quarry her ears popped and she turned to face the eruption of the canoe. She was in awe it was like watching the Fourth of July from the inside of an aquarium, some part of her didn't want to believe that Kai would trigger a real bomb but she knew him. She knew he was capable of it and yet there was still a miniscule part of her that wanted to vouch for his humanity. The part of her that was built into every strand of her DNA. The part of her that believed in the good of the world despite all the evil it had shown her. She was so lost in thoughts and the dimming lights of the explosion she didn't realize that she was slowly sinking to the bottom of what happened to be an abysmal quarry. It was when she was left in utter darkness that she began to comprehend that her eyes were indeed not closed. But that she floated into the void, a lost soul in a sea of oppression and misery. Finally it hit her that she was still entangled in heavy-duty rope and strapped to what was now an anchor. Floating in the abyss with only a deafening silence to accompany her she decided she knew two things. One that there was absolutely no possibility of her lifting the insufferable weight and two; that she could hold her breath for exactly fifty eight seconds, with the probability that she had used up half her air time already. She started to wrestle the rope hoping that it would give way, and weaken with the help of the water. But Kai must have been a boy scout before his psychopathic adventures because he had tied some expert knots. Leaving Bonnie in quite a knot of a situation. Bonnie didn't want to die here; she didn't want to awake only to drown continuously for an eternity. She didn't want to experience the same fate as Stefan. Bonnie had seen him twice on the Other Side and both times were brief and he was always distant and lost. Both times she had asked him how he had ended up there but he never replied to her, or even bothered to look at her. He just mumbled and it wasn't long before he would start choking up water. That's why Bonnie just thought she had imagined him being there; courtesy of all the stress she had from maintaining the image that she was still alive. So she never bothered to tell Jeremy, considering she didn't need him thinking that she was crazy on top of being dead. Until she had learned that Stefan wasn't alive and well he had suffered worse than her, a summer filled of countless deaths. That she could have prevented had she trusted herself. This was a guilt she had taken to secrecy that ate her up inside but she promised herself she would never speak of. That is until she broke down one day as Damon was force-feeding her pancakes yet again, and she confessed everything and to all the guilt that had eaten her up all these years. She was sure he would be mad at her for keeping all these secrets, especially the one about his brother. But that day Damon did a very uncharacteristic thing of him and hugged her. He hugged her to the point where she couldn't breath. After her initial shock she cried into his shoulders for what she was sure was hours. She cried about everything and anything until there was nothing left to cry about. And when she finally finished they just sat there in silence. It wasn't the deafening silence of solitude that they had been plagued with here, it was the silence that came with comfort and love. Damon didn't say anything because there was nothing to be said they understood each other, because they had the ability to communicate without the presence of words. Bonnie ended up falling asleep in his arms that day and Damon didn't mind as he brought her to her bed that night and kissed her goodnight. With that thought in mind she decided that she will not die here. She refused to be sentenced to an eternity of drowning. That she would once again feel Damon's embrace. She began to rack her brain in search of anything she's ever learned to find a way out of this as her lungs caught whiff of a fire burning inside. As an obvious thought entered her mind, she swore that if her hand were free she would have smacked herself on the head as she thought "Duh I'm a witch." She closed her eyes and an eerie calm fell over her entire body and to the untamed eye she would have appeared dead but she was concentrating on a spell her Grams had taught her two years ago. Her Grams was always her savior, her guardian angel. As she imagined the incantation inside the dark void of the quarry the heavy-duty rope began to glow as it transformed form yellow into green kelp. She opened her eyes in triumph and ripped apart the kelp that withheld her. She began to pedal through the water as her lungs began to burn. Her arms parted through the water as quickly as possible. She was sure that the surface was only inches away but it wasn't. Her arms and legs could not carry her fast enough as she felt her lungs were about to burst through her chest and it seemed she would never approach the surface. She swung her arms faster as the raging fire danced within her lungs each stroke causing her more pain. She began to worry that in the darkness it was possible that she wasn't even swimming straight up. With one last stroke she broke through the surface and was met with the cold crisp air of the night sky. She gasped for air hard as if she needed it to reach her toes. And silently swore she would never take air for granted again or the beauty of the stars above. After a several more whole-hearted breaths she began to paddle to the shore with great hurry. Her muscles had begun to ache from the exertion she had put on her body. So as the seconds passed her body turned into Jell-O. But with great physical endurance she made it to the shore. After all she was a lifeguard, she decided that signing up to be a lifeguard with Matt was the best decision she ever made. Because if she never had she was sure both he and her would have met their maker in the depths of the water. When her toes squished into the mushy ground below her she began to crawl she didn't make it very far as she collapsed onto the sand. She rubbed her face against it and ran it her fingers through the mush of sand as if she were bathing in money. Land oh sweet land, land is a beautiful thing to those who have been deprived of it. A smile appeared on her face in celebration that she was still alive. Her muscles completely numb, but her happiness overshadowed how much she had worn out her body. Right now sand, air, and land were all glorious to her. It wasn't until she felt the air in her lungs turn to ice that she was freezing. Her time for relaxation was not here yet she had duties to attend too; the first being to find Kai. She fought her body as it refused to stand, but after some persistence, she found herself standing upright. Her bathrobe weighed about 10 tons at the moment considering it was soaking wet. She swung it off her body and onto the sand below. A small smile appeared on her face from the relief she felt as she saw she had clothes underneath. Then it quickly disappeared when she realized that Kai must have dressed her, especially since she was wearing long white tube socks and an oversized Kurt Cobain t-shirt that clung to her body with some pinstriped boxers. "How thoughtful and polite of him" she thought sarcastically as she noticed that he didn't put any underwear on her. With the state of her wardrobe only igniting her more she began to march into the woods searching for a certain psychopath.

"K-Kai!" Her voice quaked from the cold; in fact her whole body was trembling as she continued. She mumbled a spell under her breath to light a fire in her hand; it kept her warm and helped her guide through a plethora of trees.

"K-Kai, I'm serious where are you? I-I passed you're test right so lets go h-home." She finished while stepping into a clearing.

"Bon Bon wants to go h-home." Kai mimicked her while stepping out from the shadows behind her. She shrieked a little her scream putting out her fire, the crazy bastard was always right there watching her, lurking. Kai watched her meticulously almost as if he was measuring her in increments and suddenly Bonnie felt very naked despite Kurt Cobain contradicting that argument. But it was weird she didn't only feel naked on the outside but on the inside too almost as if he was looking inside of her. She swallowed hard to find her strength.

"Bring me home."

"Well don't you want to know how you did with your first test? I mean considering you almost died a couple of times during the completion. I would think you would care at least a little bit." He said using his two fingers to indicate how little.

"I already know everything I need to know. You're a lunatic who tried to kill me and you're chalking it up to some test. But I'm sure you only wanted to see me suffer, because for some reason you're fucked up brain enjoys that." Bonnie spat at him she was sick of his sadistic crap.

"You think I wanted to see you suffer _babe_? No, no that's where you're wrong. Yes, I do enjoy watching you in general." He paused as he swallowed that hunger that threatened to take over. She inhaled because he was doing it again making her feel naked but she lifted her chin to challenge him to finish.

"But that's because you're a site to see, _Babe_." He said moving the hair that had begun to frost onto her face, away. And although it sent a rush through Bonnie's body she didn't break eye contact with him as she stood her ground.

"But sadly that little stint over there wasn't for me, it was for you." He finished with a poke on her nose, which only set her off.

"For me! How the hell was drowning for me!" She said shoving him, which only satisfied him even more. He smiled maliciously.

"Tell me Bonnie what did we agree on before?" Bonnie bit her lip in frustration as she racked her brain.

"You said you'd teach me how to survive not that you would try to kill_ me_." Bonnie uttered as he got closer she was ready to hit him again.

"I am teaching you how to _survive_. Tell me Bon, when you we're floating down there, what did you see?" Kai said his eyes watching every increment of her body as it froze reliving the moment of utter darkness in the depths of the quarry.

"Nothing." She finally replied as she gathered herself together the memory was already inflicting her with pain.

"Not one shred of light or hope? Kai asked as he noted that her breathing had become labored as if she was running out of air.

"Nothing but… darkness." A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead and her lip trembled just the slightest and he knew she was there, that she know floated in the darkness again with nothing in the distance.

"And what did you do?" She didn't like his badgering but Kai wasn't about to stop anytime soon because this was part of the lesson too.

"I... don't know." She was nervous know as if she had given the wrong answer to Kai's inquiries. Kai was mere inches away now and he was deep inside her emerald eyes latching himself onto the vast fear that spiked her soul.

"I'll tell you what did, Bonnie Bennett. You _fought_." There was a growl in his voice that exuded pride and recollection.

"I _fought_?" The word sounded strange on her tongue as if the concept was something she never heard before. Her eyes widened and for a split second Kai lost himself, in the glimmers and the flecks that shone bright within those emerald eyes. But with one blink he was back to business, despite his love for mixing pleasure and business.

"For the first time ever, you fought for your life. You fought to survive."

"I did." Bonnie's smile over took her face as she came to the realization that what Kai had said was true. She didn't give up. She fought for herself. Not for someone else to live and prosper but for herself and nothing brought her more joy. This time Kai allowed himself more than a split second, her teeth dazzle in the night making her smile all the more breathtaking. And the jewels she called eyes were hypnotizing. In fact her smile was so infectious he found himself smiling too and he didn't understand why. The smile felt weird on his face it wasn't his usual mischievous smile; this smile was backed by something else than being up to no good. He could feel his insides swell and he had no idea what it meant the only thing he knew was that he liked it. But he bit down on his lip and contained himself from further "weird" smiling and brought it back to his regular sadistic smile.

"You're welcome." He winked at her, as he was the one who brought her to have this epiphany. Bonnie found herself rolling her eyes but had yet to let her smile fade.

"Now what was the first rule of survival?" He asked testing her to make sure she had indeed been paying attention.

"Expect the unexpected." Bonnie answered with some pride, she figured if she can learn and survive all of Kai's rules that she can survive anything. I mean Kai had survived 18 years in solitude with his rules alone. If she could master them she could do anything because the biggest challenge in the world is being alone.

"Good girl, because even when things seem safe their not and you have got to be prepared." Kai added as he reached for Bonnie's hand. He reflexes we're sharp though and with a shake of her wrist she sent him flying into a nearby tree. Kai crouched over from the blow in what Bonnie thought was pain but she learned rapidly that he was laughing. He was laughing wholeheartedly and a part of her couldn't help but think that his laugh was almost musical.

"That was good, really good. But I was just going to show you where we'll be staying for the rest of the week." He said dusting himself off still chuckling to himself.

"Wait we're not going home?" Bonnie thought of the boardinghouse and how it lacked Damon's presence and found that she was okay with not going back.

"Nope. Every hero _or_ villain needs a place of serenity to train themselves." Kai wished he could live to see the day where Bonnie was the villain.

"Oh like Batman." Bonnie explained thinking of Batman Begins. She was Bruce Wayne suffering much of the same fate as he did, watching her father die in the middle of the town square. But now was her training period where she finds out if she has what it takes to be the Batman and that meant Kai was Ras Al Ghul.

"Sure like Batman." Kai said not getting the reference he would much rather see her be the Harley Quinn to his Joker. He stepped onto a log and turned towards Bonnie with his hand extended towards her.

"Well are you coming or what?" Bonnie looked at him skeptically she didn't want to hold his hand but figured he did know the way.

"Where is it?" She asked wondering how long exactly she would have to hold his hand.

"Close, don't worry." He said with what he thought was a convincing smile.

"I don't know."

"What's the worst thing that could possibly happen if you just take my hand?" Bonnie was about to begin listing until Kai gave her the stank eye. She sighed and finally wrapped her hand around his, surprised to find that it was warm. She figured it would have been cold like his heart. Then she felt a surge run through her body and with one blink she was no longer in a large clearing she was standing in front of what looked like a staircase with a sign that said the road to serenity. Bonnie smiled inwardly as she realized Kai was serious about the serenity and she was still on a whirlwind high from whatever they just did to get here.

"Awesome, right?" Kai asked without having let go of her small hand.

"What did you do?" Bonnie asked in shock because it was awesome.

"You mean what did we do _babe_. We teleported and don't worry I just used a smidge of your magic." Bonnie dropped her hand quickly as she had known better then to have trusted him.

"Don't act like it wasn't worth it." She crossed her arms at him and met him with a grimace. She would never admit it but it was worth it because the whole thing had left her exhilarated.

"Is this where we're staying?" She asked to change the subject.

"Yup." Kai replied with a puff of his chest as he made way for Bonnie to ascend the staircase that wrapped itself around the trunk of a tree and Kai followed shortly after. When they reached the top there was a small bridge light up by glowing light bulbs entwined with leaves along the rail that lead you to a tree house nestled between two tall trees. The tree house had huge rustic glass windows and a metal tin roof.

"Isn't it nice? Built it myself." Kai said with a smile remembering all the labor it had taken to build the secluded tree house.

"It's alright." Bonnie said with distaste but she knew it was beautiful in fact she absolutely loved it but she wouldn't let Kai know that. But Kai could see right through her façade he could tell Bonnie was the type who loved things with lots of charm and seemed forged by mother nature. And this tree house had both those things. So Kai grinned because he figured she must love it if she was lying and that gave him all the more satisfaction as they walked across the bridge and entered through the small door. It seemed impossible but the inside was even more beautiful then the outside. Through the windows you could see everything and it was all fresh evergreen against a night sky. All the furniture inside was made of wood much like the house itself and it had a white refrigerator. In the corner there was an opening in the wall that led to a porch that allowed you to overlook everything. There in that corner, right before the opening was where the bed was well it wasn't much of a bed it was more like a huge mattress with sundry pillows and it just squealed comfort. Then Kai flicked the lights on and rows of glittering little lights intertwined with the leaves lined the walls. The whole place was magical and Bonnie stood in awe.

"_You_ built all of this?" Bonnie questioned him with all the skepticism in the world.

"Yes _I _built all of this. You could say I had a lot of time on my hands." Kai figured she was wondering how long it could possibly take to build with just one man.

"It's not that." But then he got it, he got why she didn't believe that this was his creation. That he Kai Parker couldn't have possibly forged this beauty with his bare hands.

"Oh, you're wondering how a monster like me could possibly build something so… beautiful." Kai raised his eyebrows as Bonnie bit her tongue because he had hit it right on the nose.

"Well yeah." Bonnie nodded, Kai was all sorts of twisted so why would he build something like this.

"Sometimes I like to think I'm not all monster. Kidding! Babe, don't you know the best artists are madmen." Kai chuckled as he plopped himself on the wicker chair, that sat in front of the fireplace. Bonnie slowly smirked as well but she couldn't help but feel as if there was a tone of sincerity in his first sentence. That maybe somewhere inside that tangled mess of wretched evil could possibly be a regular person. But Bonnie quickly shook it off blaming her complex to find the good in evil.

"Well I'm going to change." Bonnie said pointing to the door she assumed was the bathroom.

"What for? I think Kurt suits you just fine." Kai smiled deviously as he pulled the bottom of Bonnie's very damp top.

"Shutup. I'm already repulsed by the fact that you dressed me." Bonnie scoffed as she slapped his hand away. She was especially mad since his outfit choice was absolutely horrible.

"I swear I didn't see anything." Kai answered all to quickly as if he were a schoolboy who was about to get their face smashed in if they had seen something they shouldn't have. Bonnie couldn't help but believe him and Kai regained his masculinity as he quickly dropped his puppy dog eyes.

"You did bring me clothes though, right?" Bonnie asked trying to jump on to the next matter of business to stray away from the awkwardness they both had to endure.

"Yeah, there's a whole drawer in the bathroom full of all the girly stuff you need." Kai said sending her away before he did or said something else weird. Bonnie decided not to dwell on his behavior since she longed for a hot shower. Approximately half an hour later she came out dry and clean besides the mop she called her hair. Her bones ached for rest but she had yet to do the very thing that had forced her to get off the sand. She still had her last duty to attend too.

"Thank god you started the fire." Bonnie said as she put her hands near the fire hoping to syphon the warmth into her bones. Kai remained silent as he glared into the fire deep in thought.

"Obviously you didn't think this through there is only one bed here Kai." Bonnie said with a roll of her eyes as she spun to around to meet his. When he finally looked away from the fire only to be biting his lip as he laughed inwardly to himself.

"Oh no I thought this through. You sleep on the floor and I get the bed unless… you want to join me." He responded coyly as stopped to tease her and then made his way to the bed that overlooked the night sky.

"I have a better idea you disappear and I keep the bed to myself." Bonnie grinned and batted her lashes at him.

"Oh, you don't mean that. You're just still bitter about the whole explosion thing." Kai said patting the soft cushion of the mattress next to him. And Bonnie couldn't help it, the bed looked so inviting and soft and plush. So she found herself accepting his offer and with one plop she was in love, it was the softest bed she had ever laid in.

"Of course I'm still bitter, I almost died." She retaliated her guard was still up but her head felt like it was up in the clouds. Kai enjoyed the sight of her cuddling up to the pillow. He laid his head gently on his pillow as he eyed her; Bonnie was about 3 seconds away from eternal slumber.

"But you didn't and doesn't that count for something?" And with that her eyes burst open to find Kai's cobalt staring at her with a smile. The words he said bringing her back to another time with another man.

"_You tried to kill me."_

"_But I didn't…does that not count for anything?"_

Suddenly she felt a pang inside of her; she couldn't believe it she actually missed a person she once recognized only as a monster. And now if she were to see him she would recognize him as her best friend. She was lost in her thoughts until Kai interrupted them when he grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest, easily surpassing his boundaries.

"Does this sound like the heart of a person who would let you die brutally, _babe_?" Kai smiled as he enjoyed the feeling of her hand on his chest.

"No it sounds like the heart of a dead man."

"Wha-" Then a shriek escaped from Kai's lungs as his veins started to turn black and the song of his heart became much slower. Bonnie continued to suck the life out of him, literally and she moaned from the adrenaline. Now she knew how Kai felt when he siphoned magic from her, it was a powerful feeling to be in control of someone else. To look down and know that in this moment there yours and you own them. Bonnie crouched over him and leaned into his ear.

"Like I said don't call me, babe." Kai couldn't help but chuckle as the song of his heart ended. Bonnie smiled as she mentally patted herself on the back and gave Kai's face a little smack but his smile remained. With that deed done she could finally rest in peace and quickly found sleep amongst the clouds.

**Sorry this chapter was wack and not long but I've been fighting to finish it and I just couldn't so I figured I'd give you what I wrote already. Unless you guys prefer waiting longer for huge chapters or do you prefer frequent shorter chapters? Also this chapter sets up the basis of Bonnie and Kai's metamorphosis.**


	5. Fight to the Death

"Wakey Wakey." Bonnie slept as if she we're no longer in this realm, her mind soared high above reality and she had never felt more relaxed in her life. But the smell of eggs and bacon made her stir considering she couldn't remember the last time she ate.

"That smells delicious." She smiled and inhaled deeply. For a moment she forgot where she was and whom she was with and just felt utter joy.

"Well I do pride myself in being an amazing cook." Bonnie's eyes fluttered open and she was filled with dread once again. She was still trapped in 1994 with a sociopath for good measure. The aforementioned sociopath now kneeled before her waving a plate of mouthwatering food in her face. Her smile was now replaced with a grimace but still made her way to a bacon strip. Well she attempted too anyways before Kai smacked her hand away with a savage grin on his face.

"Ahh ahh, in order to get some bacon, you have to answer my question?"

"Kai I don't have time for your stupid games." Bonnie said making another swipe for the plate.

"Must I remind you that time is no longer of relevance to us, because I feel like this has been stated before. Or there should at least be a billboard; that reads, "Time a thing of the past." Or " Time simply an ironic joke here." He chuckled at his own pitiful joke but Bonnie had already closed her eyes with the decision that she will not eat that she'll simply just go back to bed. But unfortunately her stomach didn't agree with this option.

"What do you want to know?" She growled, eyeing the bacon intensely. Kai smiled he knew that she was going to give in considering she hadn't eaten in the last 4 days.

"Why did you kill me last night? Not that it wasn't hot watching you do so. But why?" Kai asked as he awaited the answer.

"I killed you to get even. Now give me the bacon." Bonnie replied and Kai handed her the plate without hesitation. As she gobbled down the food the corners of his mouth turned upward and his eyes screamed that he was up to no good. Kai couldn't keep from staring at her, because he was impressed at her simple response; it meant that she was learning. But Bonnie didn't notice she was to occupied stuffing her face with what happened to be some amazing bacon.

"Finish that quickly we got things to do." Bonnie looked up questioningly with a piece of bacon poking out of her mouth, as Kai observed that she was quite cute.

"Your training begins today, so meet me downstairs near the huge boulder." Kai stated as he grabbed a duffel bag and made his way out the door.

Bonnie was shocked to say the least when she found Kai meditating on the giant boulder, she wouldn't take him as the type.

"Glad to know, you're not like my sisters who take 3 years getting ready." Kai said without opening his eyes and Bonnie wondered how he knew of her presence.

"18 years of silence you tend to notice the slightest noises." He replied to a question she never asked aloud. He took a deep breath and stood up as he let himself stretch, but he couldn't help but chuckle at Bonnie's outfit.

"You look great." Bonnie had a pair of purple and black color block leggings with a matching crop top. She had tied the top of her hair into a little bun making her look like a little retro samurai.

"I look like the 90's threw up on me." She said as she crossed her arms, knowing very well that Kai had purposely only brought lycra for her wardrobe.

"Well in case you haven't noticed this is 1991 and you look like Lisa Turtle so you're welcome. But then that would make me Screech and we all know I'm clearly Zack Morris." Kai winked at her.

"What? Who?" Bonnie asked his analogy being totally lost on her.

"Forget it." Kai said jumping down from the boulder in his bright red gym shorts and sky blue tank top with his impossibly high white socks and all of a sudden Bonnie didn't feel embarrassed at all by her classic white high top reeboks.

"Let's get started, shall we." Kai said pointing out the path Bonnie had to follow.

"What exactly are we doing today?" Bonnie asked she walked before him.

"Oh today you are going to learn how to fight." Kai said stepping out onto a small field and on his right was a dummy, two long sticks, and his duffel bag.

"Fight?"

"Yes, fight." Kai said as he started wrapping Bonnie's hand in gauze, only stopping for a short second to admire her palms.

"But I don't know how to fight." Bonnie explained, as she tried to hide her nerves she didn't want to look weak in front of him.

"I figured that's why I said you will be learning." Kai stated exasperated wondering why it was taking her so long to catch on. He had finished wrapping her hands and stood back.

"Now show me what you got." Bonnie's head spun back in fear.

"What?"

"Show. Me. What. You. Got." Kai said waving towards the dummy. Bonnie cringed as she stepped forward and took a deep breath before she proceeded to throw punches. Her punches were short and weak and not fully backed.

"Please stop." Kai laughed wholeheartedly.

"Jesus Christ that was awful." Kai still laughed on the verge of tears and Bonnie clenched her jaw and began to walk away.

"Don't leave." Kai said biting his lower lip to contain his fit of laughter, as he grabbed Bonnie and turned her back towards the dummy.

"This just shows that we have a lot of work to do. First off we do not tuck in our thumbs." Kai said yanking he thumbs out from underneath her fingers and began to demonstrate.

"And when we punch we don't use the side of our hand we use the front. Try to keep your legs shoulder width apart and slightly bent so that you're balanced. And when you throw your punches bring the strength from your shoulder down into your fist. Now try again."

Her punches were much better now considering she was actually landing them now, but she was still a bit unbalanced.

"Trying keeping your core, and get closer so that you don't have to extend so far." Bonnie stepped a few inches closer and began to swing again, that is until Kai stopped her.

"You're still of balance your torso doing all of the work so your fist doesn't have to." Kai softly placed his hands on her hips and Bonnie instantly tensed up.

"Tensing up isn't going to help you, you have to remain loose. Now throw a punch." He was focused solely on the dummy awaiting for her to punch it but Bonnie was busy trying not to set his hands on fire even though she realized he was just helping.

"Come on, you can do it."

"I know I can." Bonnie muttered through clenched teeth, as she looked back at him.

"Then why don't you show me." Kai mimicked her. Bonnie threw a soft punch as she couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Kai's hands were somehow still on her hips.

"Oh come on! You can do better than that. I want you to get _angry_." Kai growled as he let go of her hips and squeezed his fists. But at that moment Bonnie didn't feel angry anymore she felt relieved that he was no longer touching her.

"Angry about what?"

"Are you serious? I don't even know you that well and I know your life sucks, you should be angry about everything! Let's start off with the fact that this isn't the first time you have died. And how about the fact that Damon returned and you didn't and now you're stuck here. Be angry at the fact that you're not with your friends. Be angry that your Grams is dead. Be angry at the fact that you're friends haven't done shit to get you out of here. Be angry that they're probably having the time of their lives and you're stuck in hell with me!" Kai screamed not being able to comprehend how the girl couldn't think of one reason to be angry when he was already angry for her. Bonnie's face contorted when Kai had hit her with the truth, and tears had begun to form in her eyes as she thought about losing her Grams all over again.

"You're right. My life does suck. My Grams is dead. My Dad is dead. And God knows where the hell my Mom is. And know I'm stuck here for an eternity with you." Bonnie laughed but only to prevent from the inevitable tears that she would shed.

"What's happening right now? Why is your face like that? Why are you secreting liquid from your eyes?" Bonnie's face was scrunched up as tears had begun to fall.

"I'm crying you idiot."

"_Crying_? Well stop it because it's making me uncomfortable." Kai winced as he continued to look at her. Bonnie abruptly began to walk away.

"Wait. Stop." Kai said as he stood before Bonnie blocking the path back to the treehouse. She froze when he reached out and wiped her tears away she had never seen him do something so human. That is until he licked the tears off his thumb.

"Salty." Kai stated as he tried to inform himself more on the liquid forming in her eyes.

"Fuck you." Bonnie looked at him in disgust and began to stomp away that is until Kai grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back to him, her chest colliding into his.

"Look I get it. Actually no I don't, I don't get it at all. But if you think I'm going to pity you I'm not. I'm not capable of sympathy." Bonnie began turn away yet again seeing that Kai wouldn't be helping her anytime soon. But Kai cut her off again by using his free hand to grab her by the waist and making her pay attention to him.

"But from what I do know about this _crying_ epidemic it stems from people _feeling sad_. I wouldn't know what that feels like but I'm sure it's devastating. My advice is to take all that sadness and turn it into rage, and let that rage fuel you. But not to the point where you have no control because then it becomes useless. Just let that rage building inside, guide you." Kai glared at her moist emerald eyes, as his voice turned vicious. Bonnie swallowed as she heard the eerie tone in his voice. She was scared but she was also something else, she was empowered. Bonnie glared right back at him as she clenched her jaw and he knew that she had accepted his challenge. So he let her go enticed to see what she would do next. Bonnie then abruptly turned around and Kai's face fell in disappointment as she began to walk away. But in one second Bonnie spun back around and her fist met Kai's jaw with a surprisingly extreme force. Kai stepped back from the impact and Bonnie grasped her hand as it throbbed in pain. She was sure she had broken it but she tried to eat the pain because she didn't want him to see her weak.

"Expect the unexpected, right?" She smiled as she noticed he had still yet to recover. Kai stood up straight and turned to face her and his expression terrified her; from what she could tell through the blood that was pouring out of his dismantled jaw he was smiling like a fool. Kai snapped his jaw back in place without even a slight whimper as he had done it millions of times before and spat the excess blood out.

"You learn quick." While a look of pride fell over Bonnie's face as she realized the extent of her damage. Kai would never tell her outright that he was impressed but he was, in fact he was more than impressed for some reason he was experiencing something uncontainable. Something that couldn't stop him from smiling at her or looking at her and the more he looked at her the more the uncontainable thing grew inside of him; despite his distaste for foreign concepts he could not grasp or _feelings_. He enjoyed this, whatever this was, and he couldn't stop himself from looking at her but ultimately he realized that he didn't want too stop looking at her.

"I'd say you're ready for the next level." Kai smiled through his bloody teeth and before Bonnie could ask what he meant he swung at her landing the punch on her stomach. Bonnie let out a mangled noise as she looked up at him in disbelief; she was also surprised that for being so slender he packed such a punch.

"You didn't honestly believe that I wouldn't hit you because you're a girl right?" Kai said as he waited for her to stand upright.

"Yes I did!" Bonnie screeched still in shock that he actually hit her even though she should have known better, this was a guy who was willing to kill her over and over again to teach lesson why would she think that he wouldn't also beat her.

"Well how did you think you were going to learn how to fight by hitting yourself? Mmhmm as amusing as that would be that wouldn't work out so well. Now get up and fight me." Kai stated, as he was getting sick of waiting for her to stand up. Bonnie forced herself to stand and put her fists up, she was sure she would lose but she wouldn't go down without a fight and that was what Kai was counting on. Bonnie through the first punch and then it began they fought for what seemed hours as Kai intervened along of the way teaching her different techniques and although Bonnie wouldn't ever admit this she was enjoying this, but she was not because she was getting her ass handed to her but because she was putting up a good fight. Bonnie was surprised at her physical endurance and her ego began to swell along with her black eye. That is until Kai delivered one hell of a knockout punch straight to her face and her head hit the ground in record time. Bonnie couldn't bring herself to move because she was sure she was dying and the world was a blur.

"Come on. Shake it off and get back up." Kai said waving his hand signifying for her to stand.

"I can't." Bonnie managed to get out as she started to spew blood.

"Yes you can." Kai crouched down towards her and Bonnie looked at him and gave him the look of defeat. Kai clenched his jaw because he would not accept this, he stood back up.

"I am your life and I am beating you when you're down. " Kai proceeded to kick her in the stomach.

"Are you just going to lie there and take it!" Kai said with another kick and Bonnie cried out in unbearable pain. If she thought she was dying before she was sure of it know. Then for some reason she remembered saying goodbye to her Grams and remembered her words "Stay Strong." She had to stay strong she thought as Kai proceeded to kick her and with each kick instead of feeling pain she felt anger. As her anger intensified she knew she would not just take this beating. Bonnie timed his kicks and on his third kick she grabbed his ankle before it her stomach and twisted it outwards. Then punched in his kneecap shattering the bone and breaking his leg and Kai screamed in what should have been agony but sounded more like joy. He fell to the ground next to her with a tortured smile on his face.

"For a second I thought you would never learn today's lesson."

"Which was?"

"Never stop fighting. I thought that was clear."

"I just thought the lesson was how to give a beating." Bonnie laughed even though her whole body ached.

"That too." Kai chuckled as he stared up at the sky to see that it's turned a very dark grey.

"It's almost 4:13." Kai said with a smile as if 4:13 was his favorite time.

"How do you know?" Bonnie asked and why would he care about the time considering, he made it a point to know that time is just sadistic irony here.

"Well on May 10, 1994 in this part of the world it rained twice both times at 4:13."

"It's gonna rain?" Bonnie asked in excitement after 4 months of nothing but sunshine she would pay to see some rain.

"Yes Bon but only for 8 minutes." Kai chuckled as he waited for the rain to come. Bonnie was excited and she braced herself for the rain, until she thought about what Kai said.

"Wait what part of the world are we in?" Bonnie asked and a suspicious smile crept on Kai's face.

"Don't worry about it." Bonnie was going to further question him until she felt a giant raindrop plop onto her forehead and then she instantly forgot what she was going to ask him because she was distracted by the drops of water that began to fall. Bonnie began to smile she thought she would never get the chance to feel the rain on her skin so she began to laugh but it caused her body to ache, so she settled for smiling. When it began to pour and Kai started to reach for something in his back pocket and pulled out two decent sized knives, passing one to Bonnie.

"What's this for?" Bonnie asked wondering why on earth he would be giving her knife right now. She really hoped he didn't expect her to wrestle with him right now.

"Injuries take longer to heal, you kill yourself now and you're body will regenerate quicker." Kai stated as he continued to look at the sky he liked the rain.

"Wait you're asking me to kill myself?" Bonnie asked shocked at his request, wasn't the whole point of this so that she could live.

"You did it two days ago, no problem."

"How dare you?" Bonnie fumed she couldn't believe he would bring that up because obviously her mind wasn't in the right place when that happened.

"How dare I tell the truth?" Kai asked as he turned to glare his slate eyes melting into hers and Bonnie found that she was speechless because Kai held no compassion in his eyes. He was honest despite the fact that it could hurt someone's feelings and she couldn't help but respect that.

"So are you ready?" Kai asked as he examined the point of his knife, insuring that edge was sharp enough to pierce through his chest.

"No."

"Why?" Kai asked while rolling his eyes.

"I don't know it'll hurt." Bonnie tried to explain as he smiled inwardly.

"Like your whole body doesn't hurt." Kai said stating the facts yet again.

"This is different." Then Kai's eyes found her again as he grew serious.

"No it's not. Pain shows us we're alive." Kai said as if he was thinking back to another time and Bonnie began to wonder how much pain he's subjected himself too while here just to remind himself that he was still breathing and then it hit her that must be why he never cries out in pain. He's hurt himself so much that he can't even feel it anymore that's why he laughed when she broke his leg and smiled when she punched him because he loved it. He loved the pain.

"I just don't wanna die, again." Bonnie whispered as she turned to look at the pouring sky again.

"Are you afraid of death?" Kai asked trying to comprehend.

"Of course I am, any normal person is." Bonnie replied still entranced in the sky and the feeling of the cold raindrops hitting her skin as her fingers grazed the wet earth. Kai watched her she seemed peaceful and wondered why she still thought she was normal. Two witches are lying in the middle of rainstorm after they both purposely beat themselves to the ground while being stuck in a loophole in time. Nothing about them or their situation was even remotely normal.

"We are not normal and we never will be, but you know that." Kai said turning to the sky trying to admire it the same way she was.

"I know but that doesn't mean I'm not afraid of dying." She sighed.

"Well you shouldn't be." Bonnie then turned to look at him with wonder as she analyzed him the rain had stuck his hair to his face as she was sure hers was a mess.

"And why not?" Bonnie questioned him to see what answer he could possibly have for this. Kai just smiled at the sky, as he knew Bonnie had a lot to learn but then he got lost in his thoughts yet again.

"Fear death and it will always haunt you. Fear life and you will always have it." Kai finished facing her to meet her gaze and on any other person that line would have sounded like some crap try at being sentimental but Kai the sociopath made those words ring true, the words engraved themselves into Bonnie's head. Kai spoke from experience for 18 years he's wanted nothing more than to end his life and instead he's been forced to live it.

"Okay I'll do it but we do it together." Bonnie gave in and Kai nodded as he proceeded to pick up their knives and give Bonnie's hers. Kai gave her a small smile of encouragement but on him it came off a bit sadistic and Bonnie couldn't help but notice that Kai lashes we're long and wet but then she focused on her knife and brought it above her heart.

"Just think when you wake up there will be a nice rainbow now on 3. 1, 2, 3." Bonnie and Kai simultaneously stabbed through their ribcages and into their hearts. In seconds time their hearts stopped beating but their eyes failed to close so they continued to look upward at the pouring rain as their fingers touched in between the corpses.

"By any chance have you seen Damon?" Stefan asked as he held the door open after attempting to small talk with Caroline and Ivy.

"Why would I of all people see Damon?" Caroline said while squinting her eyes clearly he knew that Damon and her were not the type to see each other.

"It's just I haven't seen him two days." Stefan clarified trying to explain his cause.

"And you thought what that he decided to go have a chat with me." Caroline stated sarcastically.

"Forget it. I was just wondering." Stefan replied knowing that he and Caroline weren't on the best of terms.

"Wait did you say two days?" Caroline asked something clicking in her mind.

"I said forget it Caroline." Stefan replied not wanting to stir any more drama.

"Stefan answer my question. Did you say two days?" Caroline demanded and it was almost scary how menacing she could look in a floral dress and heels.

"Yes I said two days, why?"

"Because Enzo hasn't picked up his phone in about two days. Which I find pretty strange considering we had a nice time at that fundraiser like I was beginning to think-"

"Caroline are you telling me that Enzo has been missing too." Stefan interrupted her not wanting to have to hear anymore about her date with Enzo.

"Yes that's what she said. Now can I please come in." Ivy sighed as she had grown tired of their conversation 2 minutes ago and she knew neither of them would let her go outside.

"Oh sorry yeah you can come in." Stefan blushed as he had almost forgotten she was there and opened the door wider for her to enter.

"Like she said yeah he's been AWOL for the last few days so maybe Damon and him went on a bromance trip or something. Anyways I have to be leaving I have rehearsals for this show I'm in and I'll be busy all through this week so I need you to take care of Ivy this week you can drop her off on Saturday." Caroline said as she whipped out her phone and began texting like a maniac.

"Alright bye Ivy, see you Saturday." She yelled from the doorway and Ivy continued to flip through the TV channels as she muttered "whatever" under her breath."

"What did you say?" Caroline asked catching her little snide comment.

"I said I can't wait. " Ivy sighed yet again. Caroline smiled and began to walk away.

"Wait?" Stefan stopped her trying to make her stay longer.

"What?" Caroline said without even taking a glance at him but Stefan couldn't find any good reason to keep her here.

"Just that you look really nice today." Stefan smirked.

"Thanks. But you and I both know I look good everyday." Caroline smiled and walked away and Stefan had no choice but to walk back to the door in defeat.

"You know it's obvious you two are like totally in love." Ivy said without looking away from the screen as Stefan locked the door.

"What are you talking about?" Stefan said trying to be casual as he made it to the armchair next to Ivy.

"You can't be serious?" Ivy said now giving him her full attention.

"Oh I am." Stefan said wondering why everyone thought Caroline and him are in love when they couldn't even talk to each other for more than 5 minutes.

"The way you look at her is the way I use to look at pizza. And she totally squealed when she left most definitely because you think she looks pretty today."

"Really, how come you I didn't hear it?" Stefan asked with a small smile on his face.

"See that smile on your face right there that means you like her! And you didn't hear it because you're like a grandpa you're getting rusty."

"I am not a Grandpa neither am I rusty. And Ok so maybe I like her a little but how do you know she likes me back?" Stefan said trying to get information out of Ivy like a teenage boy with a crush.

"Because she changed 5 times before she came here." Ivy chuckled as she remembered and Stefan light up like a Christmas tree.

"Are you hungry?" Stefan asked in an attempt to prevent this conversation from furthering.

"No Dad. Mom fed me before I got here." Ivy said rolling her eyes.

"Stop calling us that."

"Well then stop acting like my parents and let me go outside already. I swear I can handle it." Ivy whined.

"Listen you know Caroline and I are just looking out for you. We don't want you doing something you might regret. Oh my god I do sound like your Dad." Stefan said stunned at his revelation.

"Told you. Now don't you think that's just a little weird considering we've had sex?"

"Uhh" Stefan paused considering he had no response to that.

"Don't worry I no longer see you in that way. But I would like to see someone of the male species that I could flirt with."

"Surprised you haven't tried to flirt with Damon yet."

"Oh I have but he's really moody but don't get me wrong he's great entertainment but now I see him more as an Uncle." Ivy said nodding her head yeah that's exactly what she would call Damon a cool moody uncle.

"Really you tried flirting with him and nothing?" Stefan asked usually when Damon was depressed he was always down for a little messing around.

"Yup nothing but if you would let me out into the world I could I don't know possibly talk to someone else." Ivy pointed out as she so desperately missed talking to other people besides her parents.

"Like I said before we are doing this for your own safety and the safety of others."

"What is the point of living forever if I'm not allowed to live!" Ivy screamed as she slid back into the couch in a bout of sadness. Stefan rubbed his forehead the girl had a point so he was sure he would regret what he was going to say next.

"Ok look I will try to talk to your mot- I mean Caroline and try to convince her to let you go out with Matt, Jeremy, and Sarah on Saturday. How does that sound?" Stefan sighed as he had yet to let go of his face but he didn't need to because Ivy was in his lap hugging him with all the love in the world.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I won't whine ever again I swear." Ivy squealed as she got up and started thinking about what she was going to wear.

"Sure you will." Stefan laughed but he was glad to see her happy because all he's seen her do is mope around all day and watch reruns of Friends.

"Why are they still here?"

"They're still here because I need them."

"Need them for what?"

"They took away everything I had so if I want to torture them for awhile I will."

"So you're gonna torture them and then kill them don't you think that's a bit much."

"After what they did to me, what they did to us. No I don't think it's a bit much."

"I just don't think it's right."

"You already did you're part. So if you can't handle it anymore there's the door." Tripp smiled through tight teeth and after a few seconds his company left through the very same door Tripp had pointed out earlier.

"Fine I don't need you anyways! The weak of heart could never get anything done anyways." Tripp yelled after a person who was done listening to his lunacy.


	6. Know Thyself

**Hey I'm back and I think this is my quickest update! Now Ivy and Jeremy will be part of this chapter and it may seem irrelevant but it's not and remember I'm trying to do what TVD doesn't which is give every character a decent plotline and story arc. Shoutout to YoCupcake because if you like well written stories y'all should check her fanfics out. Shoutout to pennytree for leaving that awesome review and I so wish Bonkai on HBO that would be badass! Last but not least I made a corny trailer to this story on youtube awhile back if you want check it out at watch?v=ic3KxYUS_sQ**

Her footsteps left imprints of water on the floor as her drops of water cascaded from her hair. She grabbed her white linen towel and wrapped it around herself. She shuffled to the sink to inspect her appearance until she remembered that this bathroom had no mirror, in fact this whole tree house had a severe deficiency of mirrors. So doing her hair was complete guesswork, she let out a long sigh because she knew the day ahead was going to be long just like the last 4 months. How Kai survived 18 years of this she will never know. She began to dry herself and dress herself in black leggings with what looked like a bright pink leotard. She didn't even bother with her hair, as it was sure to be a mangled mess soon anyways if suicide and a beat down were on the schedule today. Bonnie didn't even entertain herself with the idea that it wouldn't be on the agenda she had no idea what Kai had planned for her today but she knew it wouldn't be no damn walk through the park. It was going to challenge her mentally and physically but oddly enough instead of dreading it Bonnie was surprised to learn that she was looking forward to it. She slowly swung open the door from the bathroom and made her way out quietly making sure not to awaken Kai who was quietly snoring away on his side of the bed. She stopped for a second realizing that she's never seen him sleep before; she was either asleep before him or he was dead because she murdered him. His quiet snoring and absence of his malicious smile made him look so young, peaceful, and something else Bonnie couldn't place her finger on. Kai then moved and Bonnie jetted outside noting that she will figure out what else his face looked like in the future. Well is it really considered the future if it was the same day I guess she would figure it out at a later time in the present if she was going to be precise.

"You're Jeremy right?"

"Yeah and you are?" Jeremy said as he walked into Alaric's apartment along with Elena.

"I'm Ivy and you will be babysitting me today." Ivy smiled even though she was sick and tired of being treated like a kid considering she was 27.

"What? No Stefan called us here for something important he said." Elena stated still confused as to why they were here and wondering why Ivy was here as well.

"First of all it is not babysitting." Stefan started popping out of the hallway and into the living room and making his way to the Gilberts.

"I just need to take care of something and I need you to just give Ivy some company while I'm gone." Stefan explained as simply as possible while slipping his coat on.

"So you do want us to babysit." Jeremy answered knowing full well that this is what the situation was.

"Wait why can't you just take her with you?" Elena asked considering Ivy was doing a great job controlling herself in Jeremy's presence.

"Because I don't want any incidents to occur like they did last time she was allowed out. And this is really something I rather do alone." Stefan answered quickly as he went to check their blood supplies.

"What exactly are you going to do?" Elena questioned having her curiosity intrigued.

"Well if you must know, I will be searching for my brother." Stefan sighed he was just waiting on her nod of approval agreeing that she will stay with Ivy.

"Oh god. Please tell me that monster isn't out there murdering people. And why did you ask us to babysit I mean you could have asked Alaric, Caroline, or even Enzo?" Elena said with a nasty taste in her mouth she didn't remember Damon but she knew he was a terrible person.

"Need I remind you that you were once in love with this _monster_ and that he is my brother. Caroline and Alaric are busy which you would know if you bothered talking to us at all. So I am asking you and Jeremy for this favor because you're a vampire and he's a vampire hunter I figured you two would be the most qualified. Now will you do me this favor or are you going to continue questioning me." Stefan answered sharply sick of Elena's interrogation and not to pleased in her speaking of his brother that way.

"Come on Elena. It's not that big of a deal and it's not like we had anything better to do." Jeremy told her sensing the slight hostility in the room and giving Ivy a small smile although he could clearly tell she was not pleased.

"Okay we'll do it." Elena muttered as she wondered why her brother was being so nice.

"Thank you I will probably be back by midnight. Ivy if you get hungry I restocked the fridge with your favorite." Stefan finished as he grabbed his keys.

"Honestly I'm 27 years old I think I can handle taking care of myself without endangering anyone. I mean seriously a vampire hunter and a vampire what do you think I'm going to do commit mass genocide." Ivy said turning towards him still not understanding why all this protection. Stefan eyebrows furrowed as usual he just wished that Ivy could see that he's doing it for her own good.

"Pretend this is a test run for Saturday, show me how well you do today and I'll call Caroline tomorrow." Stefan smiled as he placed his hand on her shoulder and she let out a long sigh as her head rolled back.

"Okay but you better bring me shopping!" Ivy said while pointing her finger at him and he raised his hands.

"Fine. Bye." Stefan chuckled as he backed away to the doorway and made his exit. Ivy rolled her eyes and turned to face Jeremy and Elena who both found the recent exchange they've witnessed peculiar.

"What?" Ivy wondered.

"Nothing." The Gilberts answered simultaneously as they reclined into the couch and Ivy plopped herself onto the armchair and massaged her scalp because she swore she would explode if she continued to live her life like this.

"So what do you do here all day?" Jeremy asked noting that Ivy didn't want to be here.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Ivy replied while covering her face and simultaneously trying not to gauge her eyes out.

"Well that sucks how bout we go to the park or something?" Jeremy asked seeing how Elena was busy texting Liam but he didn't see Ivy's reaction her eyes looked as if they were seconds from toppling to the floor.

"Are you serious?" Ivy questioned to make sure she hadn't made up what he just said.

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" Jeremy shrugged as he proceeded to grab his jacket and left his hand out for her to stand. Ivy grabbed it with haste sure that this dream would soon end. Ivy didn't speak as she saw her chance at freedom and didn't want to ruin it, she ran to the fridge grabbed a couple of blood bags and a thermos then ran to met Jeremy at the door.

"Wait where are you guys going?" Elena said taking a second from her voracious texting to question her little brother.

"Well if you were listening you'd know that we're heading to the park." Jeremy rolled his eyes at his sister's ignorance it was clear she was head over heels for this Liam guy.

"Oh okay maybe I should go to."

"No I think we're good, in fact why don't you just go see your boyfriend." Jeremy stated since he knew all to well that Elena wasn't going to mentally be here the rest of the afternoon.

"Really Jer! Because Liam asked if I wanted to go to the movies tonight." Elena said hesitantly.

"Yes really. I don't think Ivy requires much babysitting." He said nodding towards Ivy and Ivy giggled anxiously trying to give off a chill vibe.

"Alright then I owe you one." Elena smiled and in seconds she was gone.

"Wow she's fast." Ivy noted.

"Or she's thirsty." Jeremy chuckled at his own joke and Ivy cracked up as they made way their way outside.

Kai eyes popped open when he reached his hand to Bonnie's side of her bed and felt an abundance of pillows and sheets. Instantly he was up because he did not hear the shower running or footsteps and worry crept up into his head.

_What if she escaped and he was alone yet again?_

_What if she was never here and merely a figment of his vivid imagination?_

_Had he finally lost his mind?_

_Does this mean he'll never see those emerald jewels she called eyes again?_

"Fuck!" Kai thought he had screamed until he realized that wasn't his voice and looked out over the porch. And in the crack of dawn he could make out Bonnie grabbing her wrist in pain on the ground below, then returning to aggressively punch the dummy as the sky began to litter the earth with it's tears. The corners of his mouth turned up, she was training without him all the pieces of his plan falling into place.

"4:13" They whispered simultaneously as the water began to pour from the sky and Bonnie greeted it with open arms and a smile considering she was covered in sweat. Kai paid no mind to the rain falling on him as he watched her every motion. Bonnie twirled in the rain until her eyes landed on his and even though they were several hundred feet between them the heat of their gaze was that of a close proximity. Kai rested his elbows on the porch railing as that infamous malicious smile graced his features. But unlike all previous encounters with this smile Bonnie greeted it differently she slowly shook her hair out her face and twisted her head only to greet him with her own slowly spreading malicious lopsided smile.

Ivy swung herself as high as she possibly could go she wanted to reach the sky and Jeremy sat on the bench nearby wondering how someone could have this much fun from the simple act of swinging. Ivy was only aware of how the sun felt on her skin now that it wasn't burning her into a crisp. She had been swinging for an hour now and usually she would have been motion sick right about now but thanks to her new supernatural abilities she didn't have to worry about that. She would have swung all day if it weren't for that other part of vampirism, the bloodlust. She was doing great at controlling herself she hadn't vamped out once but then again they were only a couple of people in this park. She stopped mid swing as her thirst was beginning to build up again and made her way to Jeremy who was sitting working on a sketch.

"So what you drawing?" Ivy pondered seeing how intense his focus was.

"Nothing." Jeremy replied rapidly as he closed his sketchbook and smiled suspiciously.

"Oh come on. I'm trying to see as much pretty things today as possible. It's my one-day of freedom. Please." She begged with a set of big puppy eyes and a desperate smile.

"Fine." Jeremy said giving in and giving her his sketchbook and began to gaze at his shoelaces since he was afraid of her reaction. Ivy eagerly opened his sketchbook to the most recent page and was stunned silent. On the page there was a girl on a swing with her hair moving in all different directions with a smile on her face looking towards the skies.

"Is that me?" Ivy whispered in awe.

"Yeah I'm sorry it didn't come out right." Jeremy answered shyly.

"No it's perfect." Ivy said as she traced the lines with her fingers the girl in the picture looked so free, so alive. She was all Ivy wanted to be and there she was. After swallowing her would be tears she began to flip backwards to find a man napping on a couch with a lady sleeping on his lap they were both sprawled out. It was so detailed Ivy could spot the drool slipping out of the girl's mouth. She flipped the page to find Elena on her phone she couldn't help but laugh she was guessing she had an emotional attachment to that phone. The next page was a portrait of another lady she had short hair and a large toothy smile and her eyes were so vivid it felt like she was staring directly at Ivy. She flipped again and there she was again but this time she was wearing a black dress as she light candles. She flipped again and there she was again but this time with longer hair and bangs as she stood in front of a burning fireplace her expression was bittersweet. Another page and instead of there being one of her, there were two. One stood in a pretty dress with tears running down her face and the other lied on a cave floor with veins coursing through her body. The next drawing blood poured from her nose as her hand was raised and she was in deep concentration. Next she was standing as the wind whipped leaves around her now long curly hair, her eyes were closed but unlike the last few photos she was happy. Another flip and there was an image of cat eyes and heart shaped lips Ivy guessed that it was the mysterious girl. Next she was in a mask and showcasing her toothy smile that Ivy almost forgot she had, seeing her smile again caused Ivy to smile herself. Finally Ivy reached the first page and she had her short bob again and she stood alone in the woods with a somber look on her face while half her body began to fade away. Ivy didn't know who she was but from what she could see her story was a tragic one and that she clearly meant a lot to Jeremy.

"She's beautiful. Who is she?" Ivy asked flipping back to her favorite one, the one of her with the wind and the leaves whipping around her. Ivy loved it because she was in her element, Ivy could almost feel the power radiating from the page. Not only that but she seemed happy while in the others there was a sadness in her eyes.

"She… was my girlfriend." Jeremy answered while remembering the memory that accompanied the drawing, back when they were still young and hopeful.

"Was? What happened to her?" Ivy asked as she flipped back to the first page and realized that her fading may have been literal.

"That's a long story, I don't think you want to hear." Jeremy smirked half-heartedly and wondered if maybe it was a story he didn't want to tell.

"Well I have all the time in the world and I'm all ears." Ivy smiled she didn't know why but she wanted to know this girl's story. I mean after seeing those images she felt it was a story that deserved to be heard. Jeremy gazed at Ivy's eagerness and was surprised, nobody had ever been willing to hear the story about Bonnie. At that realization he became dismayed Bonnie had done so much and nobody even knew who she was.

"_Now is the time to honor her. She deserves that much, she deserves to be remembered." _

Damon's speech echoed through his brain and Jeremy came to the conclusion that now more than ever Damon was right; despite how weird that sounds.

"Well, her name was Bonnie. Bonnie Bennett." Jeremy stated with a full smile this time, he found that for the first time in a long time he was quite eager too.

"And the first thing you need to know about Bonnie is that she is by far the toughest person I've ever known. You could ask anyone and they would tell you how tough she is." Jeremy began and Ivy instantly knew she was going to love Bonnie.

"Oh so you think because you win one fight you're tough now?" Kai teased as he bounced back from the ground. Bonnie had just won their sparring match by expertly using her stick to trip Kai and smack him on the head.

"Me, tough? Never." She replied sarcastically while shaking her head.

"You're just a weak opponent." Bonnie said with a shrug and Kai received her statement with a chuckle.

"That's cute, _babe_." And Bonnie's smirk quickly disappeared and Kai's widened he knew how much it aggravated her when he called her that. Bonnie dropped her stick and lunged at him but he grabbed her fist, she took another step forward and aimed for his stomach but Kai grabbed her wrist before it reached him. Then he spun her around bringing her back towards him, her arms useless as he held her prisoner as he still had a tight grasp on both her wrists.

"Not so weak now?" Kai whispered into her ear giving a Bonnie a tingling sensation as she craned her neck so that she could look up at him.

"No you're weaker than I thought." Bonnie smirked while Kai 's forehead wrinkled, Bonnie then took her chance threw her head back with all it's force slamming it into his nose but she knew Kai, that wouldn't be enough to hurt him but it did distract him though. She dropped into a split right in between his legs and threw both her arms and Kai forward. Kai toppled onto his head and Bonnie rose above him and crossed her arms.

"I'm double jointed bitch." Bonnie smiled as Kai recovered trying to stop his nose from bleeding.

"And the split? because that was some Bruce Lee shit!" Kai asked he couldn't quite hide the fact that he was impressed and quite turned on.

"Oh I use to cheerlead." Bonnie explained.

"No way you were a cheerleader?" Kai said in disbelief.

"Yeah.." Bonnie said wondering what the hell was so hard to believe.

"So you're telling me you were a lifeguard and a cheerleader?" Kai asked he wanted to make sure that he was getting his facts straight.

"Yes." Bonnie answered in confusion Kai was acting like she said she was an astronaut or serial killer. Kai proceeded to rub his face incredulously.

"That's hot. That's like **super hot**." Kai swallowed as his throat ran dry and Bonnie snorted at his evident thirst and began to walk away because clearly Kai was going to be hung up on this for a while.

"Wait." Kai said chasing after her because despite being a ruthless sadistic 40 year old psychopath stuck in a 22 year old man's body, Kai was very much still a teenage boy at heart; a teenage boy whose mind turned to goo at the very prospect of girls if not diligent enough.

"What Kai?"

"Are we talking short skirts?" Kai said with absolute urgency.

"Oh my god, yes." Bonnie rolled her eyes as she ran towards the staircase of the tree house she was quite hungry but Kai blocked the staircase preventing her from taking another step.

"One last question?" And to Kai this question might as well have been life or death.

"Fine."

"What position were you?" Kai asked as he bit his bottom lip in anticipation.

"Flyer." Bonnie sighed and Kai placed his hand over his chest because he was sure he was going to have a heart attack.

"God bless you." He whispered as he watched her walk up the stairs and boy did he enjoy watching her walk up the stairs. If he was turned on before he was on fire now.

"Boys are so stupid." Bonnie said as she rolled her eyes but she couldn't help but secretly smile as well. Sure it was Kai of all people but no one had ever really called Bonnie hot before, well besides Jeremy.

Jeremy had barely touched the surface of the story that was Bonnie Bennett before he began to lose himself. Ivy listened to every word as if her life depended on it as they walked through the park. Suddenly Jeremy tripped into Ivy, his neck dangerously close to her mouth and she was instantly reminded of her hunger as her veins showed and she hissed. She quickly covered her face as she was reminded yet again that she is no longer human.

"Sorry I didn't mean too. I'm really hungry." She said afraid to see his reaction, afraid that he'll hate her like she hates herself. Jeremy patted her shoulder in comfort leaving her shocked.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I left your stuff in the car." Jeremy chuckled as he saw how embarrassed she was.

"Aren't you a vampire hunter, shouldn't you be disgusted of me right now?" Ivy asked slightly confused.

"Ex vampire hunter. And in case you haven't noticed my sister is a vampire." Jeremy corrected her as he switched directions to head back to the car.

"Yeah I was wondering how does that work again?" Ivy was curious.

"You just make it work because you have to." Ivy smiled at the simplicity of his answer and was going to ask him something else until her nose got a whiff of a lot of incoming blood and her ears picked up numerous racing heartbeats and her thirst intensified.

"Jeremy we need to go, now." Ivy growled. Jeremy began to ask why when he saw several people coming their way. It seemed like people were leaving an event and there was a surplus of children. Ivy fought herself not to give into her animalistic nature but she was just so, thirsty. Before Jeremy could hatch up an escape plan the herd of people were at their doorstep and Ivy began to slowly advance towards the running children. Jeremy grabbed her by the wrist to pull her back but when he met her eyes they were blood red and her veins vibrated she was no longer a cute little cupcake, she was a lethal predator. Somewhere inside of her head Ivy thought of the sad irony apparently she would be committing mass genocide today.

"How nice to see that you've recovered from your mental lapse earlier." Bonnie smirked at Kai as he made his way down the steps.

"Yeah well I took a cold shower and as you can imagine I have a very vivid imagination so I'm good now." Kai smiled devishly at her as she understood what he was insinuating.

"Oh my god you're disgusting." Bonnie said as she physically cringed at the thought.

"Oh grow up, it's completely natural. Plus if I were you I would consider it a compliment." Kai smiled as he continued to walk to his favorite boulder.

"Trust me it's not." Bonnie answered sure that she was now in need of a cold shower to rid herself of this conversation.

"So you're ok with us killing each other back and forth but at the slight mention of sex, you lose your shit?" Kai questioned with a furrow in his brow because that made no sense what so ever. Bonnie was about to respond until she realized that Kai had a point and then she was just as confused as him. Her mind was doing laps as it inquired two things; why is society so afraid of sex but blood and gore is completely acceptable? And why was Kai making more and more sense with each passing second in this prison? That either meant she was officially crazy or Kai was less mad then she thought and she didn't know which one of those answers scared her the most.

"OK let's get started before you lose yourself in that head of yours." Kai announced with the rise of his eyebrows and a clap of his hands. Bonnie shook herself out of her thoughts as she forced herself to pay attention to him. Kai leaped onto the boulder and plopped himself into his meditation spot and patted a spot in front of his for Bonnie to sit down. Bonnie mad her way there and sat down facing him surprised that they wouldn't be fighting.

"So we're just meditating?"

"No." Kai answered without further explanation and he closed his eyes and started to breath rhythmically.

"So wh-"

"Shhhhh." Kai responded before she could finish formulating her question, which brought a grimace to Bonnie's face.

"Stop glaring at me and do as I do." He caught her by surprise but in her stubbornness she followed his actions and begun to breath in tune with him. At first Bonnie couldn't see the point of this and it frustrated her but the longer they sat in utter silence the more she began to appreciate it. She had never known silence and this was complete silence, no creatures in the woods or the constant humming of a nearby city just quiet. Her heartbeat began to lower itself to an unbelievable rate as she focused only on her breathing. She was so concentrated she hadn't noticed that Kai had been staring at her for the past 5 minutes. So when he spoke her heart jumped as she had forgotten that he was there and she was here.

"Show me your magic." Kai had said.

"What?"

"I said show me your magic." Kai enunciated slowly. Bonnie searched her surroundings for something she could demonstrate her magic on; finally she came across a dead leaf not to far from her. She reached for it and placed it in her palms and concentrated. The little brown shriveled up leaf then turned to a bright green one full of life and it brought a smile to Bonnie's face.

"That was cute. Now impress me." Kai demanded as he stared at her savagely do the one thing he couldn't. Bonnie's smile faltered and turned into a scowl. She grasped the leaf tighter and zeroed in on it and let her magic churn. Slowly the leaf began to multiply as it turned into a long vine and it wrapped itself around both Kai and Bonnie bringing them closer together. Bonnie grinned as she made on of the leaves smack him Kai in the face only resulting in a yawn.

"Is that all you got?" Kai huffed in disinterest.

"Oh like you could do better?" Bonnie challenged knowing full well that he can't do magic on his own.

"Actually I can." Kai answered as he plucked one of the leaves and placed it between them. At first Bonnie stared at it in humor, as it was doing absolutely nothing besides being a leaf. But before she could mock him the leaf grew a branch and the branch grew a trunk and the trunk grew roots. And before Bonnie's very eyes a leaf had turned into a huge oak tree that now separated the two of them.

"How did you that?" Bonnie asked as she touched the tree to make sure it wasn't just an illusion.

"_Magic_." Kai couldn't have said it with more sarcasm. He hopped up and grabbed some of the vines Bonnie created and made his way to the ground floor.

"Yeah I now it was_ magic_, but you don't have any." Bonnie yelled after him.

"These leaves were conceived by magic, therefore there full of it. Now clearly I have my work cut out for me since you suck." Kai explained as if talking to a child. Bonnie's mouth dropped open no one had ever insulted her so deeply and Kai mimicked her expression mocking her.

"I get it no one has ever told you that before, probably didn't want to hurt your feelings. But it's the truth." Bonnie clenched her jaw, "Phasmatos incendia." Kai just plucked another leaf and threw it on the floor it bursted into water and quickly put out her fire.

"Jeez I'm starting to think that's the only spell you know." Kai said as he continued to be bored, Bonnie had never felt more anger the only thing she ever prided herself was being a great witch and here he was trying to revoke her license.

She brought down her hand and bent at her core unleashing an intense amount of power. The wind began to pick up and whipped through their hair with the intensity necessary for a tornado. The clouds began to cloud over and thunder rumbled in the sky and Kai had yet to crack from his bored expression only fueling Bonnie's rage. She'd like to see his stupid leaves do this and she brought out both her hands as her neck stiffened against the wind. Lightning touched the earth between them and Kai raised a brow in intrigue. The lightning created a hairline across the ground and with a slight quake the earth began to crumble in a circle around Kai.

"You can do better than that, _Babe_!" He yelled against the howling wind and Bonnie was met with the whisper of his voice tickling her ear.

"Descendero ad infernum." Bonnie growled as she opened her arms and forced the ground to crack in two, it wrecked her body with incredible pain. But nothing brought her more delight than watching Kai plummet to his death as the earth swallowed him whole. For once she didn't care about the consequences of what she had done she just felt powerful even though her vision was beginning to distort and she was familiar with the feeling of blood trickling down her nostril. She smiled at the damage she had caused but the power high didn't last long because she couldn't help but think about Kai and how he was just trying to teach her to become stronger. And how he had spent 18 years in hell only for her to send him to actual hell. And that she would never know why the hell he had no mirrors? Or what she saw in him when he slept? She despised her morality as she forced herself to remain conscious but just then elevating from the very depths of hell was Kai; floating on one large leaf as if he were fucking Aladdin. Bonnie cried in disbelief as she began to sink to the ground but Kai commanded the leaf towards her and grabbed her before she fully collapsed. In one swift motion he had carried her onto his magical leaf ride. He cradled her in her arms as she looked at him with cloudy eyes.

"Now that. Bonnie Bennett was impressive." He smiled and it shocked Bonnie because the smile wasn't sinister like usual, it was weird, it was different, it was kind.

"You're a hard man to please." Bonnie snorted because she had to be delirious I mean she was riding around on a giant leaf cradled in Kai's slender arms while simultaneously being in self-induced excruciating pain. Kai shrugged as he plucked another leaf from his vine and placed it on her forehead, and Bonnie found it odd how she did not fear what he would do next, she was merely curious. Kai's grey eyes dazed into the emerald jewels that were Bonnie's and he pressed the tiny leaf against her forehead as he whispered, "Sanavit cor aurum."

She had no idea what it meant but it sounded like he was singing her a lullaby and it was beautiful. The leaf dissolved into her head and her skin glowed as her body rejuvenated itself. Bonnie then sat straight up as she had been restored to full health, she flexed her fingers she wasn't even sore. Then she looked out over the giant leaf and she didn't know what she expected but nothing compared to this. The leaf wasn't just floating they were flying above the trees and they could see the earth curve. The wind tickled their faces as Bonnie ran her fingers through the sea of leaves below.

"So what did we learn today?" Kai asked.

"That I can fly!" Bonnie screamed as she raised her arms with the excitement of a five year old.

"Nope that's not it. Now tell me what you really learned today." Kai said as he placed his hands on her shoulder so that she could be serious.

"That you're a better witch than me." Bonnie grunted.

"That is true. But that's not the lesson." Kai answered only to hear a growl from Bonnie he could tell that she was upset at least that's what he thought she was displaying.

"But everyone knows that what is true today can be a lie tomorrow." Kai said with a raise of his brow and Bonnie met him with a squint wondering if Kai was attempting to comfort her, the Kai she had grown to know would never do such a thing. Kai clocked that Bonnie was giving him a weird look but he couldn't clock the emotion so he asked her the question again.

"What did we learn today?"

"Can't you just tell me?" Bonnie whined as she much rather be feeling the leaves under her palms again.

"Here's a hint you literally have it tattooed onto your wrist." Kai said as he was displeased that he had to give her the answer, Bonnie stared at her wrist. She had gotten the tattoo when she had come back to life for the umpteenth time and was sick of losing herself.

"Nosce te ipsum. Know thyself." Bonnie whispered. At the time she was sure she had known every part of her there was to know but clearly she hadn't.

"Exactly you must know your strengths and your weaknesses and you must also know your limits. And of all the things I will teach you this is the most important you must know who you are, in order to know where you stand." Kai said with a glare in his eye and his voice profound and Bonnie could feel the weight of his words as she turned back to read the words on her wrist.

"Wait a minute you know Latin?" Bonnie asked and Kai rubbed his face in exasperation pondering if anything he said had even remotely reached her.

"Of course. I'm also fluent in Spanish, French, Japanese, German, and Hindi." Kai stated as if it were apparent from just looking at him. Bonnie rolled her eyes and turned towards the horizon in deep thought if she were to be honest she didn't exactly know herself. Or what she was capable. The last few days have been proof that she knew very little.

"Do you, know yourself?" Bonnie asked him wondering if he knew the inner workings of his sadistic mind.

"Yes. " Kai said with a smirk because he was quite fond of himself. Bonnie's face fell as she suddenly felt quite alone despite Kai being beside her. A question infiltrated her mind, "Would she, ever know herself?" Then a huge plop of water hit her head as it did yesterday and suddenly it began to pour.

"4:13." They whispered simultaneously and in that moment Bonnie didn't care if she didn't know herself entirely because what she did know was that she loved the rain. Bonnie then raised her arms again as she stared to the sky with a heavenly smile on her face and Kai couldn't help but admire her beauty. Bonnie tested her limits, as she begun to stand but that wasn't such a good idea considering the giant leaf was soaked. Kai was taken off guard when she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What are you doing?" Kai inquired he was concerned as to why she was screaming.

"Haven't you ever screamed into the void?!" Bonnie yelled she ran her fingers through her drenched hair.

"What no." Kai screamed back against the wind and the water pelting his face.

"You should try it some time!" Bonnie yelled as she stepped forward and as anticipated by Kai slipped but he grabbed right before she slid to her death and then Bonnie began to laugh as Kai hoisted her up. But watching her laugh as she dangled made him snort and by the time he pulled her up onto the leaf they were both in an uproar. Neither knew what was louder the pouring rain or the sound of their hyena laughter against that same rain. Kai's insides began to hurt and he had no comprehension of what he was experiencing as he laughed uncontrollably, for the first time in his life, along with Bonnie.

"Why am I laughing? Why am I enjoying this?" Kai yelled in between laughs to Bonnie who was lying on her back trying to contain her insides. But she gestured him to come closer as if she was going to tell him the best secret.

"I hate to break it to you, Kai, but I think you're happy." Bonnie whispered in his ear and then covered her mouth trying to muffle her cackle.

"Happy?" Kai laughed along with her still not having the slightest clue what was so hilarious.

"Maybe you don't know yourself as well as you think you do." Bonnie said with tears in her eyes due to her unexplainable laughter but Kai's laughter died quickly as her words rung in his ears and he was instantly filled with panic.

"_Was Kai changing_?"

**Things will definitely start picking up in the next few chapters and I promise Damon will be in the next chapter. There will also be in epic battle sequence next chapter and not like epic in the way TVD said Bonkai's battle would be epic but like an actual epic battle. And I am basically trying to think of every awesome scenario that could happen in the 1994 prison world and put it in here so if you guys have ideas lemme know I'll definitely consider them. Also most importantly what do you guys think?**


	7. A Loud Silence

**Sorry I took so long but I did it, I finally finished this chapter! It took me 2 weeks to write this also this chapter's like super long so hopefully it holds you off for awhile. I think you guys will be happy to know that I have officially plotted out the rest of the story and as of now it has 39 chapters and I can't wait for you guys to see what's in store! (Also you guys should reread Fight to the Death because for some reason it didn't upload the complete chapter and that's kinda how I introduced Ivy so check that out if you want.) And during the battle try to imagine it with the same scope as Sense 8 in terms of landscape scenery because it looked so pretty in my mind.**

Jeremy searched for some way to control Ivy or at least distract her but his nerves got to him and without thinking he growled at her. But instead of a deep resonating growl you would presume you'd hear from a man of his stature, the sound that came from him resembled more of a cat meowing and Ivy snapped right back to her cute cupcake self in confusion as she began to giggle. Jeremy quickly wrapped his arm around Ivy and although to the world it looked like a proclamation of young love, he really had her in a headlock; because he knew that the distraction would only last for a few seconds. And just like he had expected, when he looked back at her; her fangs were on showcase as she hissed at him although he didn't exactly know anyone who would react to kindly to being put in a headlock.

"Listen you're not going to bite any of those people. If you absolutely have to feed you can bite me." Jeremy whispered in her ear as he smiled at the people walking by, while simultaneously picking up his pace towards the car. Ivy could feel the drumming of his artery in her ear and it called to her and she brought her fangs close to his neck but a part of her refused, the part of her that still made sense. This was her friend and those people around her where innocent and the fact that Jeremy would willingly be bit just for the safety of others. That small rational part of her fought to gain control as the animal side of her flicked her tongue on the pumping artery that gave her a siren call. The rational side of her began to dull as she was quickly controlled by her lust for his blood she brought her fangs to his skin and Jeremy braced himself. After a few seconds Jeremy looked down to see that she wasn't vicious anymore she was a cupcake again, a cupcake covered in a layer of sweat as her face was set in immense concentration. Jeremy spotted the car a little while away and they made a run for it, Ivy clearly made it to the car first and damn near ripped the door off its hinges as she looked for her blood supply. She found it quickly and didn't bother with putting it in the thermos as as she ripped off the of the top of the blood bag and slurped her life away and only then did she feel a bit more normal. Jeremy hopped in the driver's seat and looked at her in awe as she moved on to her next blood bag.

"That was-" Jeremy began.

"Close!" Ivy screamed.

"Awesome!" Jeremy finished.

"What how in the world was that awesome I almost killed everyone here!" She yelled in confusion as Jeremy started the car.

"Yeah but you didn't. You didn't even bite anyone. You didn't even bite me." Jeremy explained still in awe.

"But I wanted to, trust me I wanted to so bad." Ivy admitted in guilt.

"But you didn't and that's why it was awesome. I've never seen that type of restraint before on a newbie well besides, Caroline." Jeremy smiled still undeniably proud of her and it made Ivy feel just a little better, as he made his way out of the parking lot.

"Of course Caroline would be amazing at being a vampire." Ivy thought as Caroline was exceptional at everything and she had learned that rapidly when in her company which is why as much as she wanted to not like her, she couldn't. Plus Caroline looked out for her like no one else well, besides Stefan.

"Yeah I actually think she's better at being a vampire than being human. But you're doing great too, I guess like mother like daughter." Jeremy joked, if Ivy were being honest Caroline and Stefan were basically her parents and since both her parents died when she was young it made her even more fond of them. She didn't sign up for any of this but she realized she was happy and she didn't want to change that.

"Yeah like mother like daughter just don't let Caroline hear you say that." Ivy joked back as they made their way through the streets and Jeremy nodded as he knew Caroline would not take to kindly to being called mom.

After their magical leaf ride, Kai had been acting weird, well weird for Kai anyways at least Bonnie thought so. He wasn't cooking with the usual pizzazz he seemed to always use when in the kitchen. Bonnie eyed him before she decided that whatever was up with him could wait till later because she needed to shower. Kai had yet to make any eye contact with her since their leaf ride and Bonnie knew how much he loved to do that.

"Well I'm going in the shower." Bonnie announced in an attempt to break the silence.

"Okay. I'll tell you when the food's' ready." Kai answered quietly as he continued to peel his potatoes without even sending a glance in her direction. Bonnie lingered for awhile to see if he would say anything else but he didn't. Kai was wrapped up in his own thoughts at the moment. Bonnie then nodded her head silently and left towards the shower, not sure what she thought of Kai's newfound silence.

"I ran as fast as I could to get to her, screaming her name the entire time. And when I broke through the trees and into the clearing where everyone stood I stopped and I spotted her standing there at the edge of the woods. Really it was just a shadow of her but I could tell even in the dark that she was giving me that somber reassuring smile she always did. And even though I moved towards her I just remember knowing that, this was it. This was the end. She stepped into the light one last time and looked at me, at all of us and then faded away." Jeremy choked on the last part he had never spoken freely about Bonnie's death and it had stirred him. Jeremy sighed heavily as he used his thumb to wipe his tears and check on how Ivy was taking the story. Ivy's nose was red and tears rolled down her puffed up cheeks and Jeremy couldn't help but chuckle and pull her into a hug even though it was more for his sake than hers.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry."

"No I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so emotional." Ivy said as she began to wipe away her tears she cried as if she had known Bonnie and she felt like she did.

"No it's kinda… nice seeing people react to her death because it feels like no one ever did."

"What do you mean?"

"When she died it was like she became taboo. We didn't even give her a funeral." Jeremy admitted with shame.

"What? Why?"

"Because we had already given her a funeral earlier that year and I guess to the others it was like she never came back."

"And to you?"

"Me? For me she was back and we were better than ever before. For the first time in a while we we're both alive and happy. So when she died I was angry for the longest time, angry that she knew she was leaving and didn't tell me anything. Angry that she told me goodbye through the phone. But it took me awhile to learn that I wasn't angry at her, I was angry at me. Because I didn't see what was right in front of me. I didn't see how much she was suffering even though I knew. I didn't see that she was lying to me, that we only had a limited number of days. I should have seen all these things, because anyone who paid close attention would be able to see that. But that was the thing no one ever paid close attention to Bonnie, that's why no one ever really knew what she was thinking or what she was up too. Honestly Bonnie was straightforward and honest with her intentions but even to this day she remains a mystery. A tragically beautiful, unsolved, mystery." Jeremy tried to explain as he thought about all the moments he had with her and decided that was the only way to explain Bonnie a mystery, and she wasn't a mystery because she loved to live in secret but because no one ever asked to hear her secrets. Then Ivy abruptly jumped off the couch and wiped her mascara that had smudged drastically all over her waterline making her slightly resemble a raccoon. She ran to the guest room which she had been sharing with Stefan since she was dropped off earlier this week, she quickly shuffled through her things that Caroline had packed up for her and found what she was looking for. Jeremy was still in the same position she had left him in as she had super speeded her way through things. Jeremy eyed the brown leather book in her hand suspiciously as she snapped it open and pulled out a pen.

"What is that?"

"Well Stefan gave me this journal a while back to write about my days so that I could document my progress. But as you and I both know I don't do anything with my days so I never wrote anything and all these pages have been left blank and in need of a story."

"So what are you going to write about?" Jeremy asked not necessarily getting what she was putting down.

"I was thinking we can write about… Bonnie." Ivy said her eyes wide awaiting to see how he would react.

"Bonnie?"

"Yeah her whole life she was swept under the rug. I think it's time she be recognized because she deserves it." Jeremy grabbed the book and gently flipped through the pages as he thought of an entire book full of words just about Bonnie.

"Let's do it. But I highly doubt this will be enough pages." Jer chuckled and Ivy jumped with joy.

"Oh my god you can even draw pictures, it'll be the best." Ivy squealed as she hugged Jeremy.

"Yeah that'd be cool." Jer responded even though he couldn't deny he was happy in that moment too. Then Ivy whipped out her pen and flipped to the first page.

"So are you ready?" She said as she looked up at him.

"Ready?" Jeremy asked quizzically still a bit nervous.

"Ready to solve the mystery that is Bonnie Bennett."

Kai was at a loss of words, because for the first time he had no idea what he was thinking or what was going on. All he knew was that for some inexplicable reason he had felt joy today for no other reason than that he was happy. He hadn't hurt anyone to obtain this happiness, as he usually did, he just felt an immense amount of what he could only describe as joy. Something he had never felt before, something he just felt in general. It frustrated him beyond belief to know that he did not know as much as he thought he knew. It was an undetermined factor that he had not expected, a factor that had thrown him off his game. His jaw clenched in irritation if he did not know what was going on with himself how could he possibly know much of anything else. Also could this stupid, joyous, undetermined factor ruin his plan or alter the course of it and he did not favor either of those options considering he had meticulously constructed every part of his plan to the last detail. He fumed as he sprinkled the cilantro on top of the potatoes and placed both plates on a mountain of books they had set up on the porch, he preferred to eat inside but Bonnie always insisted on eating outside on the porch. Usually at this point his energy would be spent on the anticipation of Bonnie tasting his food. But today he had other things on his fastidious mind, even though he would much rather be preoccupied with thoughts of Bonnie than the migraine he was about to bring upon himself. Speaking of the certain beauty, he had yet to alert her that dinner was ready. He made his way to the bathroom prepared to tap on the wooden door to give her a signal. But he was met with a surprise when he found the door slightly ajar and before he could catch himself his eyes had fallen upon a sight he was sure was not meant for his eyes. She had only just finished putting on her underwear, although she had yet to put on a bra. He had no words to speak and it wasn't because he had no idea what he was thinking, he knew exactly what he was thinking. But the very sight of her had left him breathless. His lips had parted as he analyzed every curve and crevice of her body, looking at her was like looking at art. From the beauty mark on her left shoulder blade, to the tattoo under her right one, to the water that dripped from her short hair onto her bare, sculpted back. Van Gogh wouldn't be able to capture this he thought, as he admired her muscle definition and he couldn't help but lick his lips when he saw exactly just how prominent her bottom half was. She bent down to pull on her shorts and he quickly walked away to the porch as he knew he had seen too much. He didn't realize he had held his breath until he had made it to the porch railing and gasped for air. He closed his eyes and there she was again, with the drops of water sliding down her toned back he knew then he would never forget it and he thanked his pretty much, eidetic memory.

"Oh dinner's ready? Why didn't you tell me?" Bonnie asked as she sat in her usual place. Kai turned to face her and he could feel the blood rise to his cheeks because he had been privy to private information and he knew for a fact that Bonnie was not wearing a bra under her shirt. So instead of responding he just sat in his spot next to her and grabbed his fork. Bonnie stared at him as he had just ignored her question, she figured he was probably having some existential crisis from the look on his face. But she decided she would attempt conversation with him one more time in order to prevent him from letting his own mind devour him, as entertaining as that would be to watch.

"So what are we eating today?" Bonnie inhaled, sure that would get him out of his shell since he absolutely loved talking about his cooking.

"Hachis Parmentier." Kai answered as he now balanced his confusion over his _feelings_ with his gratitude over what he had previously seen. Bonnie just decided to ignore the strange expression on his face.

"Which is what exactly?" Bonnie investigated as she took her first bite.

"It's a layer of ground beef topped off with another layer of golden mashed potatoes."

"AKA two layers of heaven." Bonnie said as she went cross eyed from the savory taste. Kai was taken aback at Bonnie's statement she was always careful not to compliment Kai's cooking although he knew she secretly loved it. And it was true Bonnie didn't ever compliment him despite his food being some of the best food she had ever tasted, because she didn't want to fuel his already endless ego. But he was acting off today, she thought maybe a compliment would him snap him back to normal. And it wasn't like she was lying, her statement was genuine it really did taste like heaven.

"It's basically just the french version of shepard's pie, Bonnie." Bonnie couldn't figure if this was his attempt at being humble, or stating the facts, or both.

"Well then it's the best shepherd's pie I've ever had." Bonnie proclaimed as she continued to savour every bite. The corners of Kai's mouth couldn't help but turn slightly as he bit into his own food. The rest of dinner was silent as Bonnie was too preoccupied with her food to figure out what the hell was wrong with him and Kai just stared at her while she devoured his food, they both seemed to be enjoying themselves. When Bonnie finished she grabbed both the plates and washed the dishes. When she returned Kai was in the same position she had left him, staring out into the trees with an unreadable expression on his face. Bonnie just plopped on to the bed, the past few nights she'd spend her time reading along with Kai. Kai was always reading some Stephen King or Edgar Allan Poe novels even though Bonnie was pretty sure that he had read all of the books ever available in 1994. Bonnie had started reading The Odyssey, but today she didn't feel like reading so she just stared out into the stars considering their bed was technically half outdoors anyways.

"Alright I give up." Bonnie sighed.

"Mmm what?" Kai answered absentmindedly as he was only partly paying attention to her, he had barely heard her over the noise in his head.

"I give up. What the hell is wrong with you?" Bonnie huffed as she rolled on to her stomach so that she could see him better.

"I find that question to be quite ironic." Kai smirked as he glanced at her and then the image of her wet body ran through his mind again and he looked away.

"You know what I mean Kai. Ever since that leaf ride you've been acting strange, I mean strange for you anyways." Bonnie said placing her head in her hands, as she gazed straight at him.

"Why do you care?" Kai frowned not understanding why Bonnie would question the status of his mind as if she cared. Also why did she so desperately want to intrude on his private thoughts and the inner workings of his twisted mind.

"I.. don't. It's just that I'm use to hearing you talking your life away and now that you're not it's awfully quiet." Bonnie shrugged in an attempt to showcase how much she didn't care. Kai glanced at her again and a smirk played on his feature.

"Are you saying you miss the sound of my voice?" Kai smiled devilishly returning back to his old self as he met her gaze.

"NO. I was just saying you've been quiet." Bonnie retorted as she turned to face the stars again so that she didn't have to see his stupid face, who couldn't handle answering a simple question.

"No, I'm pretty sure you were saying you miss my voice. What is it Bonnie, do you find my voice, sexy?" Kai wiggled his eyebrows at her as he lowered his voice and at that moment Bonnie couldn't deny that his voice was husky and hot.

"You know what I just decided I prefer you quiet." Bonnie said as she presented him a fake smile.

"Now Bonnie Bennett you shouldn't lie. You must learn to speak your mind." Kai grinned as he began to move towards her because he found her obvious denial amusing and distracting.

"And you should practice what you preach, ." Bonnie retorted she was aware that Kai was moving closer to her but she refused to look at him.

"What ever do you mean, little Bonnie Bennett?" Kai said as he finally crawled to her and forced her to look at him by covering the view of the stars with his face as his face hovered directly above hers.

"I _mean_ your telling me to say the truth and speak my mind but here I am asking you what's wrong and you refuse to tell me." Bonnie replied without the slightest indication that she was bothered by his proximity she had learned a long time ago that Kai had no concept of personal space.

"Tell me the truth as to why you care so much. If you speak your mind, I'll speak mine." Kai countered sure that Bonnie wouldn't actually tell him, Bonnie was a girl who liked to live within the constraints of her mind, much like he did, despite his affinity for hearing his own voice. But he also just didn't understand why she needed to know the inner workings of his mind, right now he was weak and he didn't want her to know. Kai stared at her as he saw her hesitate, knowing that he had won or at least he had thought.

"I care because if you're quiet then I might as well be left here alone and clearly we both know I don't want that." Bonnie rose as she spoke her mind only bring their noses closer together and her eyes to his lips and vice versa.

"And if I'm being completely honest, yes when you're not being a fucking creep I do find your voice, hot." Bonnie finished as she raised her eyebrow and Kai was left speechless but with an ear to ear smile as he enjoyed what she had to say. He stared at her lips not only were they the perfect plump shape but they were also refreshing and tantalizing to watch as she spoke her mind.

"Well then it's only fair, I keep my end of the bargain." Kai whispered as he lightly grazed his nose against hers, Bonnie couldn't help but inhale deeply because she was sure that he was going to try to kiss her. But he only continued to breath while staring directly at her heart shaped lips while she stared at his plump bottom lip. She leaned in as he cocked his head only for them to gravitate closer and she closed her eyes as he grabbed the sides of her face. A part of her knew she shouldn't do this, actually _every_ part of her knew she shouldn't do this and yet she didn't care, she was eager to taste his evil.

"But as we both know I don't play fair." Kai breathed into her mouth and Bonnie's eyes shot open, but it was too late Kai had snapped her neck.

"I like you Bonnie, I do. But right now I need some peace and quiet so that I can figure this all out. And you just ask to many questions, we'll talk tomorrow okay. And I'm sure the second you wake up, you'll murder me. Just know that I'll be looking forward to it." Kai sighed as he pushed the hair out of her face, his only regret was that he hadn't kissed her before he killed her.

Stefan walked slowly into the apartment with the slump of a man who did not accomplish what he had set out to do. He was ready to go to bed but paused in his tracks when he lifted his head and saw the scene before him; Jeremy was on the floor in deep concentration as he sketched away his heart's content. But what made his eyebrows rise in curiosity was that Elena and Ivy were talking like they're best friends as Ivy scribbled furiously on a notepad and Elena braided her hair. Elena had come back from her date earlier and rapidly learned what Jeremy and Ivy were doing and she knew she wanted to be part of it too and it was well into midnight as they continued their story telling.

"I'm surprised Ivy, what no Office today?" Stefan asked while checking the TV screen usually around this time Ivy would be devouring as many episodes of The Office as possible and he would join in despite how stupid he thought the show was, they had kinda made it a sort of ritual.

"Oh hey Stef. And you know I'm not ready to say goodbye to Michael!" Ivy squinted at him as if he had insulted her, and he might as well have. He knew that she was had begun Season 7 and she heard that Michael leaves somewhere towards the end of Season 7 and she wasn't ready considering she had grown to love him so much. Even Caroline knew because she had started watching the show with her right after they breezed through Sex and the City.

"Stefan you're back." Elena said with a twinge of sadness as she was having fun.

"Yes I am. So that means you guys can head out, I know Jeremy has school tomorrow." Stefan replied as he watched Jeremy and Elena snap into a quick terror as they had forgotten Jeremy had school tomorrow themselves.

"Oh my god you're right we have to go." Jeremy jumped up quickly and grabbed his stuff while Elena made a quick grab for her keys and phone, Ivy's face fell as this was the first time in a while where she had enjoyed her day and had the company of others.

"Yeah I still have to drive you back to campus and then make it back to Mystic Falls." Jeremy exclaimed as he would probably not be getting much sleep tonight, as he held the door open for Elena.

"It was cool hanging out, Ivy." Elena waved from the door.

"Yeah so I'll see you tomorrow." Jeremy smiled.

"Most definitely." Ivy smiled at the prospect of having acquaintances again and then Elena and Jeremy swiftly disappeared and the door closed shut.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Stefan said with an inclination of his brow.

"Yes, is that a problem?" Ivy replied ready to argue if he tried to take away the only friends she's made.

"Nope not a problem." Stefan replied as he raised his hands in surrender as he could sense the a smidge of hostility in her voice as he plopped onto the couch and Ivy's smile quickly reappeared.

"By the way Caroline has agreed and you will be able to go out this weekend."

"Hallelijuah!" Ivy sang as she raised her hands in the air and began to dance around the room and Stefan began to laugh.

"I was also thinking that maybe you could even go shopping tomorrow." With that declaration Ivy froze mid dance as she looked at him with her mouth open.

"Is it Christmas, already?" Ivy wondered since Stefan was being so generous.

"Nope I just figured that you would want a new outfit for Saturday night." Stefan said as he watched her wondering what she would do next probably a cartwheel but instead she grabbed him by the shoulders.

"You my sir, are a smart man who has figured correctly." Ivy proclaimed in awe.

"I figured I'd let you use my credit card while you're at it." Stefan smiled.

"A good, smart, handsome man who deserves all the love in the world." She hugged him as she continued to flatter him. And despite his failed attempts of the day Ivy got a laugh out of him as he knew she would react this way, he patted her back as she began to pull away.

"Now I'm guessing you didn't find Damon." Ivy questioned because she knew Stefan would have probably dragged his butt back home.

"No." He sighed Stefan had gone to all his brother's favorite hangouts even went to the park he's seen him at recently and the diner he had caught him at the other day.

"Do you know why he disappeared?" Ivy asked in concern for what had become what she known as a moody uncle.

"We had a fight about.. something important to him. I didn't think he'd just up and leave like he did." Stefan replied as his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought he was learning more and more with each passing minute just how much Bonnie had meant to Damon.

"I'm sure he's just fuming he'll come back around Stef." Ivy tried to reassure him and Stefan smiled at her attempt.

"Lets forget about my day. How was your day it seemed you got along well with Jeremy and Elena." He grinned in an attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah they're super cool."

"What did you guys do all day?" Stefan asked as he knew that they hadn't been watching television.

"Uhhh we kinda started a project." Ivy replied a bit suspiciously as she did not want to tell him about the almost incident at the park because she didn't want her shopping day revoked.

"A project?" Stefan said intrigued.

"Yeah we decided to write a biography, I guess." Ivy answered as she picked up her notes which she had taken copious amounts of, from both Elena and Jeremy.

"A biography on who?"

"Bonnie." Ivy answered as she began to scribble some more points down and silently thanked her new and improved brain that remembered every single thing ever.

"Bonnie... Bennett?" Stefan choked out, sure that the mention of Bonnie's name was no coincidence.

"Yeah that'd be the one. " Ivy said without really focusing on him or else she would have noticed that Stefan's mouth had yet to close.

"How do you even know about her?" Stefan asked.

"Jeremy had sketches of her and then I asked him to tell me who she was and then everything after that was a whirlwind. Did you know she spent a whole summer dead, kinda like you?" Ivy questioned because Elena had told her how both of them were missing and no one knew where they were.

"Yeah I know it was a tough summer for the both of us." Stefan advocated as he vaguely remembered seeing her on the other side.

"Did you know she watched her father die in the middle of the town square?" Ivy asked wondering how much Stefan himself knew about Bonnie.

"What do you mean, she was dead when her father was killed?" Stefan acknowledged how morose that sentence was and how it basically summed up how wretched Bonnie's life was.

"She was there. She could float between both sides and she visited Jeremy all the time, she watched over all of you. Especially her Dad and she was there when Silas slit his throat in the middle of the town. She ran to him but she couldn't do anything, she couldn't hold him or console him in his last moments. She couldn't do anything not even say goodbye and then she had no choice but to go on and pretend nothing ever happened. I think of all the fucked up things I've ever heard, that has to be the most fucked up." Ivy answered assuring Stefan of what he always knew that Bonnie was always the one who suffered the consequences of what everyone else brought on. He felt guilty knowing all that he knew, knowing her childhood, knowing all the pain she had gone through and being one of the only people who knew how her life truly came to end which was more heartbreaking than what the others knew to be true.

"She deserved better. She always did. She deserved to be more than just some afterthought." Stefan attested as he fell into a bout of guilt he had promised her Grams that he would protect her and he hadn't, in fact over the years he'd have to admit that he had forgotten her.

"She did. She deserved to be happy. And that's why when Jeremy told me about her I just knew I had to write about her, you know? I mean she was forgotten while alive so she at least better be remembered while dead." Stefan couldn't help think of the one person who did remember every day, the person he pushed away because they couldn't come to terms with Bonnie's death, Damon.

"I understand and I agree so if you need any help. I'll be glad to help." Stefan smiled at her she was absolutely right Bonnie deserved much more and when Damon came back he was sure he would gladly help Ivy after a bit of provocation that is if he ever came back.

"Oh really Stef, that'd be awesome because I'm trying to get her story from all different perspectives, and I'm sure you've had moments with Bonnie that others don't know about." Ivy explained as the more sides of the story she could get the more pieces of the puzzle she would have.

"I haven't seen you this passionate about something since, well, since you were alive." Stefan admired although once again the guilt ate him as he knew that she was a vampire because of him.

"You're right. I just feel like she was Superman and I guess I wish I could be a little more like her, actually I wish everyone could be a little more like her because then the world would be a better place. God that sounded so corny but yeah. Plus I figured I should put that PHD in English to good use." Ivy babbled on in awe of Bonnie and it was true Stefan knew Ivy had majored in English during her time in college. When he had found her she was a substitute teacher for the local junior high but she also worked a shift at the local diner which is where they met.

"Ahh yes the good old English degree what was that good for again?" Stefan joked in an attempt to make the situation light again.

"Oh shut up out of all the careers you could have chosen to be, you chose to be a mechanic."

"I chose to be a mechanic in that life. But I have been a soldier, an accountant, a cop, a lawyer, a dancer, a doctor and only god knows how many times I've gone to high school." Stefan recanted as he counted all his previous lives not including the ones where he just murdered people for a living.

"Wait what was the one before high school?"

"A doctor?"

"No, no the one before that."

"A dancer?"

"Yeah that one. Are you honestly telling me that brooding Stefan Salvatore use to be a dancer?"

"Oh yeah you're looking at one of the best." Stefan gloated and Ivy wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic.

"Yeah right." Ivy said in disbelief.

"Who do you think taught Swayze all them moves?" Stefan exclaimed in nonchalance as he turned on the TV and went to Netflix so they can presume watching The Office, Ivy just stared at him not sure whether to believe him or not.

"You're lying." Ivy proclaimed as Stefan watched Erin run out to Gabe and announce that they caught the Scranton Strangler. He settled himself in, sure that shenanigans would ensue.

"Actually I'm not."

"You met Patrick Swayze?" Ivy asked in disbelief as Michael and the gang watched the news.

"You mean Patrick Swayze met me." Stefan grinned as he knew he had her reeled in and she would want all the details and he loved tantalizing her because she got all adorable when she wanted info.

"Are you serious?"

"Deadly." Ivy glared at him with intensity trying to decipher if he was telling the truth and Stefan just began to chuckle as an overjoyed Michael proceeded to tell his future grandson to buy a nice spaceship with some pebbles. Ivy couldn't help but laugh with him but as soon as the theme song came back on she was glaring at him.

"Ok tell me everything."

Bonnie's body had finished regenerating and her eyes shot open as she was brought back to life and she was livid. She jumped from the bed and dashed to the bathroom and grabbed the largest knife she could find.

"I worry about his stupid, well being, and how does the little _bastard_ repay me by killing me. Don't worry though I'm gonna stab you so hard, you'll never be able to take out the knife." Bonnie mumbled as she made her way back to him, she raised the knife and she was so ready to take him out right then and there. She hadn't realized he was sleeping, she thought it'd be better to give him a nice little surprise. But she faltered when she saw his face, once again it looked so young and peaceful and there was that something else still there. She brought her knife down and analyzed the anatomy of his face, there was no doubt he was handsome but when he was asleep he looked different. Almost innocent like Bonnie touched his cheek as she was lost in thought, then it dawned on her what she thought was so peculiar about his face while resting. Asleep and devoid of malice, Kai looked pure, genuine, innocent and most of all _good_. She pulled away at her realization, she knew Kai was evil, trust me she knew but was there more to him than that? Was there some part inside of him that was pure, was he redeemable? Or was this all brought on because she felt the need to find the good in everyone? Or did she feel the need to find the good in him, because she liked him? Did she like him? I mean sure she was physically attracted to him but did she like him, like him? And if she did would she allow herself to openly admit she likes him, or will she carry that burden with her? Did liking him make her bad? What about Jeremy? How was Jeremy? Had Jeremy moved on? Was she ok with that, if he had? Was it ok if she moved on? But more importantly did Kai even like her or was he just making fun of her? Also had she officially gone crazy? All these questions rushed into Bonnie's head and she plopped down next to him with a frown as she stared at his face in hopes of finding an answer to at least one of her questions. A breeze rushed through the window and she tried to huddle closer to Kai considering he had hogged all the blankets. She turned to the outside having her back face him as she clutched the knife closer to her and curled into fetal position to protect her from the cold. She was too busy thinking to fall asleep so when another cool breeze whisked through a shiver danced down her spine.

"Should have figured you wouldn't have it in you, to kill me." Kai mumbled.

"Oh no. I was going too. Just decided that I didn't want to dirty the mattress, so I suggest you shut up before I change my mind." Bonnie shivered yet again.

"Sure." Kai chuckled in his sleep as he dropped his arm over her and scooted her closer. Bonnie's eyes nearly popped out of her damn head as he sniffed her hair, but she couldn't deny that she was definitely no longer cold.

"I suggest you go to sleep, you're gonna need all the rest you can get for tomorrow." Kai yawned as he feel back to sleep with Bonnie cocooned into him. Now she was wondering what the hell he could possibly have in stored for tomorrow he might start the day by killing her, who knows. She grabbed the knife tighter to her chest, maybe she might start the day by killing him who knows?

Alaric barged in and was surprised to find two people in his apartment until he remembered that he was basically running a B&B right now. He stood there and sighed as he took in both of the sleeping bodies on his couch and realized that the screen was left on "Are you still watching?" Ivy was sprawled out on the couch taking the majority of the space while Stefan had a small corner to himself. They had fallen asleep after several episodes of the Office and conversations that branched from Swayze to Bonnie. Alaric grabbed the remote and finally turned off the TV as he rolled his eyes while taking off his jacket.

"Hey we were watching that." Ivy drooled from her spot on the couch.

"I'm sure you were." Alaric replied sarcastically.

"Alaric, when did you get here?" Stefan questioned while regaining his posture and massaging his face.

"Like two seconds ago. It seems like you too had a busy night." Alaric grinned as he couldn't be any more sarcastic.

"Although I do appreciate the sarcasm in your voice, Stefan and I had quite a productive night." Ivy murmured still half asleep.

"Do tell." Alaric said as he made his way to the kitchen to make some coffee.

"Well first off, we had the glee viewing party. Then we launched and we got to fall in love with Holly all over again. Swayze idolized Stefan and wanted to be able to dance with the same passion as him. Then we had to go on a manhunt for Michael. While Bonnie just wanted to be left alone but Stefan needed her help and could tell that Bonnie needed a hug. Then we watched the best movie ever aka Threat Level Midnight and cried when Michael proposed to Holly because it was beautiful. So yeah actually it was a very busy night." Ivy babbled on, Alaric not quite being able to decipher her mumblings which he was sure just episodes of The Office, but a part of him also believed that they may have found his private stash of liquor. So he stood up and went to the kitchen to prepare some coffee.

"Don't forget we got to meet Deangelo?" Stefan finished.

"Uhh don't remind me."

"Why he's pretty funny."

"Like I said I don't trust him. Plus no one will be a better manager than Michael Scott."

"Michael's great but he's not the _best_ boss." Stefan retorted and that was enough to wake Ivy up as she stood straight up in disbelief at his last utterance.

"I'm going to pretend I never heard you say that for your sake only." Ivy countered as she stood and began to leave the room not wanting to hear anymore of Stefan's nonsense.

"Oh come on he's completely unprofessional, they all are." Stefan finished and Ivy just covered her ears as she disappeared down the hallway to the bedroom.

"It's like I'm living with teenagers all over again." Alaric stated after seeing the aforementioned scene play out before him.

"Yeah, says the guy who never made it back home last night." Stefan said with a cock of his brow.

"I'm a grown man. I think I'm allowed to come home whenever I want." Alaric said as he poured the coffee in two separate mugs.

"I know you can." Stefan smirked as he made his way out of the couch.

"Good." Alaric finished as he slid Stefan a mug across the island and Stefan gladly picked it up as he sipped some of the fresh coffee and was glad to learn that it had just the right amount of blood, thus being the perfect pick me up. Stefan smiled he was glad Alaric had forgiven him after the incredibly stupid shit he pulled while Damon was gone. Then his smile vanished as he remembered his brother was now nowhere to be found.

"So how was last night?" Stefan brought up in an attempt to take his mind of his brother.

"Well it was ….weird." Alaric answered as he paused trying to find the right word to describe his night at Jo's.

"How so?" Stefan replied ready to hear some embarrassing shenanigans as he continued to sip his coffee.

"I kinda unlocked her tragic backstory." Alaric cringed at his choice in wording, he knew her life had been nowhere close to easy.

"So what, she got a psycho ex boyfriend or something?" Stefan guessed since he was pretty sure it couldn't be that bad, since Jo was of the ordinary.

"No I wish. When I said it got weird I meant supernatural weird." Alaric proclaimed as he began to remember the details of the night vividly.

"Oh. Don't tell me she's a vampire hunter?" Stefan smiled because he would appreciate the irony.

"Nope she's a witch or, well, she use to be, before she gave her powers away." Alaric answered as best he could, wondering what was the exact term for an ex witch.

"Actually many witches do that, not wanting to be a servant to nature. It's not that weird." Stefan explained as he had encountered several ex-witches in his time. And he's pretty sure if he hadn't stepped into Bonnie's life she would have probably done the same. Stefan's eyes fell as he realized that maybe had he not walked into her life she would still be alive and happy.

"That's not the wierd part. When she was younger, she use to be a twin and had a ton of siblings." Alaric had stopped drinking his coffee because he hadn't known how to react when she told him the next part.

"Was? What happened to them?" Stefan cautioned sure that this was the part where things got weird.

"They were all massacred besides her, Liv, and Luke. Oh yeah, apparently Liv and Luke are her brother and sister." Alaric said still finding it hard to believe that he did not know Liv and Luke were related to her and wondering how they all survived this trauma.

"That's horrible and I did not know that." Stefan automatically pitied her despite knowing that she was fine now.

"Yeah, that's not the worst part. Her twin brother was the one who killed them all and he tried to kill Jo, Liv, and Luke but didn't get too because her father and the rest of the coven imprisoned him." Alaric elaborated and then landed his eyes on Stefan only to see the same response he had when they had told him. Stefan had stopped sipping his coffee and couldn't help the fact that his eyes were bulging out his head.

"Oh." Stefan whispered, he knew his family was all types of messed up but she had him beat.

"Yeah." Alaric answered since there was no right response to that and they simultaneously sipped their coffee in silence.

"What kind of prison?" Stefan said to break the tension.

"Apparently they built some sort of alternate dimension just for him." Alaric answered still clearly impressed at the fact that this coven managed to create another dimension. But the only thing Stefan thought was the fact that his brother had been stuck in an alternate dimension for the past 4 months.

"Wait, alternate dimension?"

"Yeah that's the part I wanted to talk to you about. Doesn't this alternate dimension thing kinda sound like what Damon told us. I mean he told us he was basically stuck in another dimension with a crazy warlock and this just so happens to be another dimension with a psychopathic warlock residing in it." Alaric had pieced these two things together on his ride back from Jo's.

"There's no way that's a coincidence. Did you happen to catch the brother's name?"

"I think it was something Mala...mala… shit it's on the tip of my tongue."

"Kai." Stefan finished as that was the name Damon had given him and it was the name he heard Bonnie and Damon call the uninvited third person who popped out of nowhere in 94'.

"Yup that's it. So was that the guy Damon was stuck with?"

"Yes." Stefan said keeping it short as Damon wasn't the one who really got stuck with him. It was Bonnie who had ended up being stuck with him.

"I swear the world just keeps on getting smaller and smaller everyday. And no wonder Damon didn't kill him it would have been useless. No one can die there." Alaric added glad that his friend had made it out of that prison sure that it really must have been hell there with that psycho. But then again Damon wasn't no walk in the park himself.

"What?" Stefan charged at Alaric's last proclamation.

"Oh yeah because of the crime he committed, they wanted him to suffer for eternity, so they spelled it. So that within that realm you are immortal, so that even when he finally gave up he wouldn't be able to die. Now my only question is; how did Damon wind up there instead of dying like everyone else?" Alaric wondered considering when he was on the Other Side people were either taken by the darkness or consumed by the light. The bad versus the good. So Alaric held a lot of questions because Damon's fate between light and dark is definitely questionable. But Stefan wasn't thinking about any of that, he was thinking about a girl who had hung onto to a teddy bear while her life also hung in the balance. And then the act of this girl letting go with the most beautiful, heart-wrenching smile on her face as she fell to her now supposed death.

"Bonnie." Stefan breathed in revelation, if what Alaric said was true, it meant she was still alive. It meant he was wrong. It meant she could still be saved.

"Bonnie? You really think that she hatched up a way to save Damon? I mean knowing Bonnie she could have. Actually no, if she could send Damon there why wouldn't she send herself there? Why wouldn't she save herself if she knew a way out. No just no, because if it was Bonnie there is no way she wouldn't be alive right now. And I mean does Bonnie sacrificing herself for Damon, sound like something she would ever do? Just saying it sounds crazy. He had to have gotten there another way." Alaric replied as he ran through the hundred reasons why Bonnie wouldn't save Damon and the very few as to why she would, totally missing that Stefan was no longer paying attention.

"We need to find Damon." Stefan declared as he looked up at Alaric, he needed to find Damon so that they could save her.

Reluctantly neither of them managed to kill each other in the morning. Maybe due to the fact that they were extremely comfortable this morning so much so that neither wanted to wake up, although of course neither would admit it. But there euphonious slumber came to an end when Bonnie rubbed up against him just a little too much and Kai was instantly reminded just how big her butt was and it didn't take to long after that for his little friend to activate. And Bonnie screamed when she felt it poke her back and her immediate reaction was to stab him, but Kai dodged her just in time, and all her knife got was pillows.

"What the hell?" Kai screamed back at her as she was ready to attack again.

"You tried to stab me." Bonnie responded still very unaware that he hadn't actually attempted to attack her, but that his response was involuntary and then Bonnie striked again, causing Kai to leap up.

"No I didn't! I mean technically I did stab you but not with a knife." Kai attempted to explain but ended with a smug look on his face.

"If you didn't stab me with a knife, then what did you stab me with?" Bonnie asked seeing how his story wasn't adding up. Then Kai looked down and Bonnie finally understood what was happening here.

"Oh gross! I would have preferred you stab me with a knife." Bonnie said in disgust.

"You didn't have a problem with me spooning you all night, but this is a problem!"

"First of all we we're not spooning. And yes this is a problem!" She finished as she pointed at his all to excited friend with her knife.

"Whoa! How bout we put the knife down, Crocodile Dundee. And if we weren't spooning what do you call it when you're the little spoon and I'm the big spoon?" Kai asked wondering what she could possibly say to deny this. Bonnie in return just frowned because she didn't know what else to say, she knew they had spooned but she wasn't going to say that out loud and she was definitely not going to admit that she liked it.

"God! Can you put that thing away!" Bonnie yelled as she was now sure that it was following her eye movement.

"Yeah! Right after you put your ass away!"

"Excuse me?"

"This is your fault! If you weren't rubbing up your huge ass on me all night, then maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"I didn't rub anything, anywhere! And my ass is not huge." Kai just craned his head to the side, with a clear look that said she couldn't possibly buy what she was selling.

"What its not!"

"You can't possibly be serious right now?"

"It isn't that big!"

"Clearly you just woke up in a state of denial today, because if your ass isn't huge then I don't have an erection." Kai said in all seriousness.

"You know what Kai you can believe whatever you want, I know my butt isn't that big."

"I'm officially done with this conversation." Kai walked away as he began to shed his shirt in exchange for a new one. Bonnie just huffed her way to the bathroom, to get dressed. But she couldn't help but stop and stare at her butt as she poked it.

"Is my butt really that big?" She whispered to herself.

"Yes. Yes it is." Kai said from the bathroom door that she had left open again.

"Shut up Kai!" Bonnie said as she ran to close the door on his face but he blocked her from doing so.

"I just came here to tell you to dress warm, where we'll be it'll be cold."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere cold." Kai smiled and Bonnie could have smacked him 50 times and it wouldn't have been enough to wipe that wise cracking, smug, arrogant, hot, smile off his face.

Which only got wider because he could sense her irritation.

"One last thing. Baby, you got back so do yourself a favor and embrace it."

Bonnie just gave him a smile as she punched him in the stomach and slammed the door on his face, but as she turned around she couldn't help but smile in excitement to herself.

An hour later they were fed and both less cranky as they made it to the clearing outside that had reconstructed itself after Bonnie had destroyed it yesterday.

"What happened to the tree you made yesterday?" Bonnie said pointing towards Kai's meditation spot that looked the same as it did the day she got here.

"I thought you'd a figured by now that nothing is permanent here."

"What about the treehouse?"

"What I have gathered over the years, that the only things that stay are things that you build on top off. But to be honest I don't know all the logistics of this place even after all these years. But I do know that since this is an alternate realm, it's a subset of reality meaning magic is stronger here." Kai said greedily as he glanced at Bonnie.

"How strong?" Bonnie asked as she wanted to know the limitations to this place.

"Strong enough that I can teleport all over the world where in the real world I can probably only teleport 5 miles at most." Kai explained and he loved the fascination on Bonnie's face.

"How do you know?" Bonnie questioned because transporting across the world sounded very fictitious even to her.

"I know because I use to do it when I first arrived. I sucked the magic out of every object I could lay my hands on and teleported all over the world until one day I ran out of juice and I got stuck in India, then I had to teach myself to fly a plane."

"Which is where you taught yourself Hindi so that you can understand the instructions." Bonnie finished clearly impressed with the stuff Kai has been able to pull off while on his own.

"Bingo. And now that you're here I don't have to fly anymore." Kai said glad to know that she wasn't a complete lost cause, because she had been paying attention.

"Wait you're teleporting us somewhere?"

"Yes, today we will be using everything I've taught you so far; fighting, sparring, magic, but most importantly the lessons."

"So like one giant match?" Bonnie asked as she began to sweat and not just because of the jacket she had on, she didn't know if she was ready to face Kai seriously yet.

"Are you nervous?" Kai asked as he counted the beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

"No, so how do we know who wins?" Bonnie said swallowing her nerves.

"Whoever isn't dead, wins." Kai smiled.

"Of course." Bonnie sighed, what other type of match was there.

"So if you could make a batch of your leaves again, that'd be great?" Kai turned to face her as he awaited her leaves.

"Why would I make you leaves, when it would help my opponent."

"It would only be fair plus don't you want a challenge?" Kai gave his best sugar sweet smile except no such thing existed for Kai, it just made him look more mischievous.

"Oh will you look at that, I don't play fair." Bonnie smiled as she reminded him of the words he uttered last night before he snapped her neck and Kai looked down with a smile on his face proud of his girl.

"Have I mentioned you learn quick." He said as he glanced at her and thought that she was a fair opponent.

"You may have, once or twice." Bonnie looked at him slyly.

"Have I also mentioned that I always win?" Kai stated as he stepped forward and put his hands on her face and siphoned some magic out of her, his eyes closed in ecstasy where as Bonnie's shot open wide in pain. He could feel himself draining her and as much as he loved the sensation of pulsing magic between them he stopped and pulled away. He opened his eyes to a livid Bonnie and chuckled, that is until he felt her hand clap against his face and it boggled his brain slightly. He blinked as he hadn't expected that.

"I don't care if you're not mentally sane, siphon me one more time without my permission and I will chop your hands off every morning for the rest of eternity. Am I clear?" Bonnie asked him and her face portrayed all the qualities of a calm person, her voice on the other hand did not. Kai had never been scared in his life but he had to admit a small part of him did tingle in fear and he liked it.

"Crystal." And although she was shorter than him, he looked up at her.

"Great, now where are we going?"

"You'll know when we get there. Just remember that when doing magic, let it flow through you. Don't force it. Let it come naturally, from within you, and use nature and the elements around you. That way you won't overexert yourself and get nosebleeds." Kai answered as he understood that they were now back to business.

"Got it." Bonnie said as she listened to every word, it wasn't everyday she was taught magic so she made sure she paid close attention.

"Now remember the game is on the _second_ we arrive." Bonnie nodded as she understood the terms, Kai put his hand out to her and waited. She was hesitant but finally she placed her hand in his and nodded, she used her other hand to reach into her back pocket. Then Kai robbed just a sliver of her magic as they felt a tug at their core, and they traveled. When Bonnie opened her eyes again they both simultaneously chanted, "Motis". Her pocket knife flew out of her back pocket and hit Kai square in the chest, while Kai's knife hit her in the stomach. And although they both had the same idea, Bonnie had acted quicker and Kai had already hit the ground, while Bonnie still stood. Albeit she was wounded and bleeding but she was still standing.

"Well that was easy, shouldn't you have expected that. I win!" She yelled in excitement but quickly regretted it considering a large knife was lodged in her stomach.

"Best 2 out of 3." Kai coughed as blood started to spurt from his mouth but he still smiled up at her, impressed that she had the same idea as him and that she had acted quicker.

"Yeah, whatever." Bonnie laughed wondering why she had been nervous to begin with she could totally beat him. That's when she finally felt the frigid air and the wind whipping at her face, causing her to turn around and gather information on where they were.

"Really, Kai. Mt. Everest you couldn't have picked, something slightly colder." Bonnie complained as she overlooked the Himalayas, a place she had only seen in pictures. But she couldn't stop herself from smiling the view was fantastic, and she was sad that she wouldn't be able to enjoy it for longer, since she would have to kill herself in order to be fully restored for Round 2. Hopefully Kai wouldn't kill her while she was still regenerating, she thought as she grasped the knife. Her fingers had started to freeze over, she was sure she'd get frostbite.

"FUCK!" She screamed as she yanked the knife out and she collapsed onto the pile of white snow that was now tainted with both their blood. She grabbed the knife and placed it on top of her heart, she felt the snowflakes fall onto her face. She braced herself and plunged the knife deep within her chest cavity, her last hope being that their bodies didn't freeze over.

Bonnie's eye burst open as they usually did when she was resurrected, she yanked the knife out of her chest. She didn't know how long she had been out, but it was long enough for Kai to disappear as she searched for him in the vicinity but all she saw was snow. She knew that breathing would be harder here because of the high altitudes so she spelled herself to adjust to the oxygen levels. But that didn't help the fact that she was still freezing and had no clue where the hell she was. She began to plot, knowing Kai he would always have a visual on her and he would attack when she least expected it. So she decided she'll let him come to her, instead of going out and searching for him as she was sure that's exactly what he wanted. Now the only problem was staying warm.

"You just had to choose Everest!" Bonnie yelled as she began to shiver.

"Phasmatos Incendia." She chanted as she surrounded herself in a ring of fire and plopped herself in the middle. If she knew how to teleport herself somewhere else, she would. But instead she decided to enjoy the view for awhile and await Kai's sure to be theatrical entrance. But after a few minutes passed, Bonnie thought she might have been wrong about his tactics that is until she heard his voice.

"Really you're just gonna sit there in a ring of fire. That's so boring."

"Well considering every part of me is freezing, yeah." Bonnie responded to nothing as she could not find the source of his voice but she knew he was near, so she stood up.

"So much for having imagination." She heard his voice again, and without even seeing him she knew he was mocking the hell out of her.

"And how exactly are _you_ staying, warm?" Bonnie asked the air, trying to get him out of his hiding spot so that she could kill him and they could go home.

"I'm not." Bonnie's face contorted in confusion. "I'm staying cold." Kai finished as he finally revealed and the reason Bonnie couldn't spot him was because he wasn't human. Well yeah he was still in human form, but his skin was made out of ice and looked as if he were made of glass. And as cool as it was to see, she didn't want to freeze for a second longer.

"Phasmatos incendia."

"Phasmastos amanzi." I thought we've been through this, you sound like a broken record." Kai said quickly putting out her line of fire with water. He breathed on the wall of fire in front of him and it disappeared as he stepped into her ring of fire, Bonnie stormed her brain for possible things to do or how she could possibly kill him considering he was made out of ice.

"Ok Jack Frost, you want something new. Ignis fieri." She sang as she stepped inside the fire and at first it consumed her but then, she consumed it. She had swallowed it. She had become fire itself as her hair was now flames that flickered in the wind.

"Cool." Kai breathed as he approved then charged at her but she dodged as she slid in the puddle she had created. She figured if she heated the ground then surely he'd melt. But Kai was quick as he charged at her again working with the puddle she had created. She blasted him with fire as he blasted her with ice. His ice being stronger hit her causing her to fall back and roll in the puddle she created. Her fire melted the snow at an accelerated rate causing her to slide down the side of the mountain at an uncontrollable speed, and she could see a cliff she was coming into contact with soon. Oh how she wished she had a giant magic leaf right now she thought as she attempted to grab onto hardened snow. But her hands just melted it away, Kai was falling right after her. Bonnie had fallen of the edge first but Kai tumbled shortly after and before they knew it they were both free-falling through the snow capped mountains. They reached out for each other as they continued to spin rapidly through mid air while Bonnie screamed, although you couldn't hear her over the howling wind. The end of their fall was quickly approaching, Kai propelled himself to Bonnie and latched on to her arms and she latched on to his. His ice fighting her fire while her fire fought his ice as they stared at each other. They're bodies fought to compel one another and the effect was beautiful on their skin, an aura of ice and fire melding as one in some parts. Kai closed his eyes and concentrated as Bonnie braced herself for when her body made contact with the ground. Except it never did because they shot into an ocean. Bonnie's body began to float as her fire had been put out, and the same fear she felt in the quarry crept within her and she began to swim for her dear life. Kai had returned to his regular state and instead grew a pair of gills on the side of his neck as he swam in an attempt to catch up with her. Kai latched onto her foot and Bonnie was sure he was going to try to drown her. She moved her arms maniacally creating a small whirlpool in an attempt to throw him off. But he cemented his hand onto her foot and in another blink they were on dry land as Bonnie spat up water on the ground below her and she checked her surroundings to see where he had transported them.

"Oh my god, the Taj Mahal." She smiled as she stood up from the steps, it was beautiful.

"Yes the Taj Mahal." Kai answered as he grabbed her by the neck with his wet hand and picked her off the floor, both of them dripping water on the ancient tiles below.

"I believe I win this round." Kai grinned as Bonnie fought for air. He slammed her onto the tile with extreme force. And her head cracked just like Gwen Stacey's and he didn't have to check her pulse to know he had won this round.

Bonnie woke up in an unbearable heat and her throat was so dry, she had forgotten where she was but was quickly reminded when she saw the Taj Mahal in her presence. She began to crawl towards the long pool of water that lead to the steps of the Taj Mahal. She screwed all modesty when she dipped her head in and gulped like a dog. But the water wasn't that refreshing, since it was lukewarm but it did help quench her undeniable thirst. The heat was killing her, so she finally ripped off her damp jacket and hoodie she had on. She felt disgusting considering she was still wet from there plunge in the ocean and now she was sweaty from the sweltering heat in India. She couldn't believe it, but she actually missed Everest. She did her best to cover herself from the sun, but it wasn't much as she was tired, hungry, and hot. So when she spotted the eclipse forming she smiled.

"Thank god for that stupid, fucking, eclipse." She mumbled as she enjoyed the shade she'd have for approximately the next minute. But someone had blocked out her eclipse, that someone being Kai. She backed up immediately, she wasn't prepared to fight him. Where as he was fine, he sipped on a water bottle and he had shed his winter gear and changed into some more climate friendly clothing. He wore a grey tank top with cargo shorts, and his infamous knee high socks with converses and a pair of aviators, looking every bit a tragically dressed menacing man-boy. One things for sure was that this look would definitely not fly in 2012, although somehow Kai was pulling it off. Bonnie geared herself to fling him through the air.

"Relax, I come in peace. I was thinking we could grab some lunch." Kai proclaimed.

"Oh thank god! I'm starving." Bonnie said relieved that they were getting a lunch break.

"Are you in the mood for Indian because I was thinking I want Italian." Kai said as he offered her a hand, she gladly took it.

"Italian sounds nice, I mean the Taj Mahal is gorgeous but it's so hot here I was actually beginning to miss Everest." She chuckled as she gained her balance and thought of the freezing cold mountains. Then she felt a tug in her stomach and they were there again. Right back to the same place they had started.

"Kai I wasn't serious." Bonnie thought as she rubbed her arms rapidly trying to create heat but that wasn't working.

"I ...didn't bring us here." Kai said slowly as he began to shiver and then Bonnie hugged him as she tried to siphon his warmth, Kai was taken off guard with this gesture. It was warm in the sense that they were sharing body heat but it was also warm in another sense. The type of warmth that comes with love and although he liked it made him extremely uncomfortable.

"Oh really then who did?" Bonnie shivered sarcastically into his neck. And then she wasn't cold anymore, neither of them were because they were no longer surrounded by snow escapades instead their view had changed to vivid green rolling hills as they stood in a vineyard.

"You did?" Kai uttered in shock, Bonnie let go of him and glared him in the eye to see if he was lying but he was as confused as she was. The eclipse had ended as they turned to face the now emerging sun.

"That's not possible." Bonnie replied as she had no idea how to do that.

"_You _said Everest. _You _thought Everest and we we're in Everest." Kai explained as he tried to understand just exactly how she managed to pull this off.

"So your telling me that if I just think of a place, I'll be there?" Bonnie asked eagerly because if so, she had a lot of traveling to do.

"No you can only jump to places you've been." Kai replied still fascinated.

"Oh well then this trick is useless, because I've never been anywhere." Bonnie exclaimed in disappointment. But Kai still marveled at her in amazement because she shouldn't have been able to do that, in fact he's the only person he knew with the power to teleport, the power to skip through space.

"So can we go eat now, because as I mentioned I'm starving." Bonnie said as she completely washed off the gravity of what she had just done.

"Yeah, sure." Kai said still boggled by her as he took her hand once again and skipped them to a nice Italian restaurant he had been too. Bonnie walked in eagerly, as she couldn't wait to stuff her face Kai just followed her because he know knew that Bonnie Bennett was more powerful then he could have ever imagined.

Lunch was amazing, much thanks to Kai considering he cooked it but now both Bonnie and Kai were in position for Round 3 of their matches, each had gotten a minute to prepare. Kai created himself a vine of leaves but it was small, because he had used all of his magic, in total he had 6 leaves. They had jumped to Pompeii because what better place for their last round then Pompeii. Bonnie had fled as far as she could to consider her next strategy, if she was going to finish Kai off she was going to need to hit him in all of his weak spots because that's surely what he planned on doing to her. She knew he was running out of magic or had either run out already, and that despite her warning he would probably try to siphon some more off of her. So despite her magic being her advantage, it was also her disadvantage because Kai was still the better witch. So she channeled all her magic into her bracelet, leaving her empty she felt different as if a part of her was missing. The same way she felt the entire year she was left without her magic, she didn't like it but she figured she'd deal with it if it meant she'd win. There minute was up Bonnie and this time Bonnie decided she would approach Kai instead of waiting for him.

"Conpositum." Bonnie chanted as she held her bracelet, giving her the power to blend into the cobblestone ruins. It wasn't long before she heard the sound of footsteps hitting the stone pavement and it made her smile. She slowly followed the sound till she found him, he was crouched over listening intently for her. She analyzed him, he had somehow managed to find a bat probably to bludgeon her with and he had a vine of five leaves wrapped around his arm. Bonnie did her best not to laugh as he had made this to easy for her. She snuck up behind him and punched the crap out of his head, he fell onto the ground. She grabbed his bat and began to pummel him with it, and she found that she was enjoying it.

"Cloaking spell, huh?" Kai laughed as he caught the bat in his hand, albeit Bonnie had already cracked some of his ribs. But with the leaf in his hand he turned the bat into a rope so that Bonnie could not longer bash him with it and got up on his feet. She worked with what he had given her, and took the rope and did her best to strangle him as quickly as she could. But with the height difference it was an extremely difficult task as she started shoving him towards the wall hoping that he would put up less of a fight if she had him there. But when they were a couple of feet away from the wall Kai ran up against it and did a 360 flip landing behind her. He yanked a leaf and dropped it on her, "Zembula." Bonnie's location was revealed as she was no longer hidden. It wasn't long before he strangled her with the same rope she had used against him.

"That was good Bonnie, really good. But not good enough." He whispered in her ear. Bonnie ripped his precious leaves off his wrist and set them on fire. His response was to pull the rope tighter around her neck, she cried out since she wouldn't last long with her oxygen supply cut off.

"_Focus, focus you need to get yourself out of this! Kai will not win! Limited air! How do I get out of this? Oh, wait! I can teleport, skip, jump or whatever the hell he calls it! Ok that corner you can do it. Corner, corner, corner." _When she opened her eyes again she gasped for air and was glad to see that she received it. Kai no longer had her gasping for air, he spotted her movement and charged towards her. Bonnie ran as fast as she could, she jumped over the remnants of Pompeii as she ran further into the lost city with Kai on her heels. But Bonnie was never the best runner, and as Kai and her both anticipated she tripped on one of the cobblestones and she could hear Kai's laughter echo through the streets. She got up as quickly as possible and picked a building to climb, she was better at climbing than running. She fit her fingers into the small cracks and commenced climbing the wall, but Kai was right there at her toes. After a substantial distance she glanced down to see how far up she had gotten she felt like she was at top of the Empire State building when she saw the distance to the ground. Kai latched onto her foot again and pulled hard, causing them both to fall. Bonnie screamed but it wasn't for long since they both landed quickly, like too quickly. Kai was the first one up and a breeze whipped through his hair as he looked out to the New York City skyline.

"The Empire State building, nice." Kai said giving it his seal of approval, Bonnie's neck snapped to take in her location they were both at the very top of the Empire State building, she had only been here once with her father on one of his countless business trips. She noted that it was breezy as hell here on May 10th, since her hair whipped in a whirlwind around her. Before she had even got up Kai had pounced on top of her, he wasn't taking anymore chances he had to win and he had to win now and nothing could possibly stop him. He had straddled her, limiting her movement to a minimum but she she still squirmed beneath him. He brought his hands around her lovely neck that he was beginning to grow fond of, and brought his face dangerously close to hers. He tried to siphon her magic but frowned when he found none and in return saw Bonnie's smug smirk on her face. She could tell that he was in his element the way he looked at her, was the way a snake eyed its prey before attacking. She searched for every possible way out, she thought maybe she could teleport her way out of this one. But her bracelet had fallen off and it was lying inches away from her fingertips, so it was just all of her against all of him.

"Any last words?" Kai breathed into her lips with a menacing smile, sure she had put her magic away so he decided he would just settle for snapping her neck again. But Bonnie wasn't giving up, not today, he had taught her to keep on fighting no matter, so that's exactly what she would do. Kai face regained composure as he focused on the task that is until Bonnie craned her neck and kissed him. The kiss was a just a slow peck on his lips but it was enough to stop him. When she pulled away the predator in him was gone and in place she saw a startled man boy, but in a blink the predator was back except he was hungry for something else. He crashed his lips onto hers as he grabbed her by the small of her back pulling her closer to him. Bonnie kissed him as if her dear life depended on it, because it did. He brought both of them to sitting position, as Bonnie scooched onto his lap closing whatever remaining distance between them. Passion erupted from inside of Kai as they explored each others tongues, Bonnie grabbed her bracelet as she kept one hand in his hair. Kai had a nice handful of Bonnie's hair in his hand as they moved in synchronization, Bonnie couldn't help herself as she found herself wanting to deepen the kiss, and to feel his skin on hers, but sadly business was business. So she slowly sucked his bottom lip and pulled away leaving it swollen. They rested on each other's foreheads as they gasped for air while staring at each others lips, hungry for more. Bonnie placed her hand with the bracelet on his chest as it heaved, the sun had begun to set.

"Exhibere me cor." She whispered softly and sensually.

"What?" Kai smiled as he hadn't heard what she said but then yelped in pain as Bonnie dug her nails into his skin and through the tissue and bone.

"I win." Bonnie declared with a smile that competed with Kai's for most maniacal as she yanked out his beating heart. Kai scoffed in proud disbelief as he hit the floor and died. Bonnie brought the heart to ear as it was still beating his song and she giggled to herself, she had won.

Their mangled breaths resonated in the hot air as they still recovered from their recent torture. Enzo was far more resilient than Damon in the matter as he had been subjected to far more torture, to the point that very little actually caused him pain. In fact he wondered many times if he was still able to feel pain.

"Well that was fun." Enzo chided as he wiped the sweat he had accumulated from the torture off his brow with the back of his hand. Damon answered him with a grunt he hadn't been one to talk for the last few days he just fumed all by his lonesome despite Enzo's various attempts to get him to talk.

"You know the time would go faster if you bothered to speak." Enzo said with the hope that his friend would finally come out of his shell. Enzo wasn't one for silence as it reminded him far to much of all the time he spent alone in Augustine.

"There is nothing to talk about Enzo." Damon replied hoping Enzo would shut up for once, Damon wanted to be able to duel his demons all alone.

"Sure there is. We can start with why you've been pissing and moaning since the second you got here."

"Oh I don't know, maybe it's the fact that we're being held against our will, and tormented for fun." Damon barked at him, wondering why Enzo kept on talking to him as if they weren't being tortured.

"No that's not it. The Damon I know would be focused on the people he's going to kill after he gets out of this temporary knot." Enzo surmised as he continued to speak as if they were having a drink at the bar and not chained to walls with cuffs doused in vervain.

"You know what you're right. I think I'll start with the chatty Kathy sitting across from me." Damon glared at him hoping that would silence him as he returned to stare at the only thing that brought him some type of comfort while in this prison. Enzo just chuckled, he enjoyed Damon's short temperament and empty threats. Damon lied his head against the bars as he set his eyes on the one thing he wanted. Silence fell upon them once again and Damon was thankful for it, because he didn't feel the need to speak. Because the only thing he could think of was her and everytime he closed his eyes the only image that came was that of her beautiful smile as she fell to her death.

"What's the story with you and that bear?" Enzo interrupted the silence as his curiousity got to him, for the last 3 days all he had seen Damon do was stare at that bear like it was a god. The bear that sat on the corner of a desk that was just a little ways from them. Damon cringed in annoyance as he was reminded that he was still there.

"Frankly it's none of your business." Damon replied without breaking contact with Ms. Cuddles.

"Considering you've made me a third wheel to you and a teddy bear, I think it is my business." Enzo brought forth, he did feel as if he was interrupting something serious between Damon and this bear, he just stared at the bear with such an intensity that it made Enzo's stomach slightly churn. Damon just rolled his eyes and grunted once again causing Enzo to sigh as he looked at the bear that had taken all of his friends attention.

"What if I were to strike a deal with you?" Enzo implored as he tried to spike Damon's interest.

"Does it include you shutting up?" Damon countered as he knew if this went on for another day he would have to kill him.

"Unfortunately, no. But it does include the bear." Enzo said nonchalantly and he knew he had caught Damon's attention.

"What about the bear?"

"I get you the bear and you talk." Damon's head snapped around to finally face a very smug Enzo.

"You can't get the bear." Damon squinted in seriousness.

"Oh but I can."Enzo replied with a crooked smile.

"Then show me. Go ahead, get the bear." Damon retorted as he so desperately wanted to see his attempt to rescue the bear.

"Only if we have a deal, mate." Enzo glared at him as he wanted him to succumb to the bargain and Damon glared back and after a minute he finally replied.

"If you somehow miraculously manage to get the bear, I'll tell you anything. Heck I'll tell you everything. But until then you shut up." Damon countered with a smirk of his own as he was sure Enzo could not get the bear although a part of him wished he could retrieve it so that he can be reunited with the only thing left of Bonnie.

"Fair, enough." Enzo smiled and began his period of silence. A couple of minutes later they heard the low hissing of the pipes indicating that water would be on any minute. Damon and Enzo assumed their positions as they braced themselves for the pain. Then the showers turned on and it always started with a sprinkle and made it's way to a consistent waterfall. The second the water touched them, Damon screamed. Damon was always the first and only one to scream, he thought he could conquer the pain much like Enzo and sit there and wallow in it as he did but he couldn't. The water seared his skin and he would clench his jaw in pain but nothing could stop the earth shattering cries that echoed through the small room when he began to see his burnt skin fall off and the water started hitting his tissue and bone. Their bodies fought to regenerate faster but with the lack of food and constant torture they couldn't. It was a terrifying sight watching their skin melt off in chunks and watch it fall down the drain while they convulsed in horrific pain. Soon they would lay in a puddle of there own blood as every part of their bodies continued to be set on fire, and they would have no choice but to drink it since it was their only source for nourishment. Damon cried out from the horrid torture that they were subjected too every hour, on the hour.

La di la la if you guys liked it REVIEW! if you didn't like it review! Just please fuel my ego and give me a review! Comment what you think is going to happen to the fates of our lovely characters who are already beginning to change or if you have any questions. And the lesson today was know thy enemies as Bonnie had to think like Kai to beat Kai.

P.S Check out Fascinare that story is hilarious and awesome!


	8. Target Practice

**Hey guys sorry it's been so damn long but I've been busy and lazy. But this time I posted 2 updates (of two different stories). And thanks for all the reviews you guys are the reason I even bother to update, I'm looking at you Melika, SettingSummerSun, JustStockton and jordanjanellejoy.**

"Wake up." The only thing that answered this solemn demand was a quiet snore from a person who happened to be enjoying their much needed sleep.

"Wake the hell up." Kai demanded in Bonnie's ear, as she was curled into him and he could smell the ocean breeze she called her hair. He knew she was tired because they had gone to bed late, because she felt the want to travel last night. Instead of studying up on spells or reading The Odyssey she had insisted that they go back to India, to ultimately decide that she likes India better at night. Kai had refused about 10 times because although he might not admit it, he was still a bit bitter that Bonnie had won their battle. But somehow she had convinced him and he had decided that he liked how Bonnie looked underneath the Indian moonlight. Kai always won, but he didn't this time and he was torn between holding a grudge like a child and being clearly impressed with how far Bonnie had progressed in such a short of amount time. He supposed he was equally both these things but at the moment he was giving into the immature child side of him, as he wanted to disturb from her peaceful slumber for an early practice. Sure he could just wait until the sun rose like a normal person but he would much rather irk the crap out of her, and as we know Kai was anything but normal.

"Wake up." He demanded once again but this time he pressed the cold metal tip of a gun into her temple, hoping it would provoke her. He was sure she would wake up and try to kill him. He was right about her waking up as Bonnie felt the freezing metal sitting on her temple.

"No." That's all she said, she didn't move at all. It was crystal clear that Bonnie no longer gave a fuck how he threatened her. Although a small part of her was surprised to learn that he had decided to point a gun at her head, but not really, Kai could step out whipping a katana like a pro and she would probably just accept it because he seems to be able to do everything. And she already learned that if Kai has the ability to do something that he will probably do it.

"What do you mean, no?" Kai asked confused as he attempted to push the gun down further on her temple, which only got Bonnie to growl.

"No, as in, I'm not getting up. Because I'm tired and you're annoying." Bonnie replied as she pushed the gun out her face, elbowed him in the chest and went back to bed.

"Do you not understand, that if you don't get up, I'm going to shoot your brains out?" Kai said as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, I understand. I'm hoping you actually do it so I can finally get some peace and silence." Bonnie mumbled in the dark, Kai pulled his gun back in awe. He was stunned by her response, the Bonnie from 4 days ago would have probably shat her pants at the fact that a gun was being held to her face by a murderous psychopath. But this Bonnie only opened her eyes in just the slightest to see what Kai was up to and she was surprised to find him sitting straight up in bed just staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Oh, so you're not going to do it anymore? Pussy." Bonnie said as she grabbed the blanket and cuddled herself up in it. Kai's jaw dropped slightly, yeah this wasn't the same Bonnie from a week ago, this was the Bonnie that took no shit, this was the Bonnie he had helped create. His grudge over his hurt ego quickly disapparated. He smiled as he put the gun down, his chest puffing with immense pride. He slowly made his way back to his sleeping position and Bonnie just scooted into him as if it was natural. He had never admired her or anyone more than he did in this specific moment. A woman who wasn't afraid of him, a woman who could challenge him it's all he's ever wanted.

Stefan and Alaric had been going over all the places Damon could have possibly disappeared too although Stefan had still managed to withhold certain information from him, like why exactly Damon left and what their dispute had been about. He didn't want to tell him about Bonnie without telling Damon first. They had decided that today they'll call the gang up to send out a search party for Damon, and Enzo as well because it was starting to get Caroline antsy as well. Well Stefan decided _not_ to call the whole gang because he didn't want to send the whole gang into panic, even though he was sure with all the terrible things Damon had done to the group nobody would be crazy to help or actually panic. He was afraid they might actually be ecstatic of his disappearance, which was why he had delayed making the call until the absolute last second when he himself knew that he wouldn't be able to find him. But not finding Damon wasn't the only thing gnawing away at his brain, the other thing that was eating at him was if Bonnie was indeed alive, was she suffering? Was this psychopathic Kai torturing her? Bonnie had suffered far too much in real life to suffer anymore.

"Hey we're going to find him, relax." Alaric reassured him, Stefan himself hadn't noticed that he split the pen he had in his hand in half, the ink now covering his hands and his new shirt.

"Great, Caroline and Ivy are going to kill me." Stefan grunted as he rushed to the sink.

"Why are Caroline and I going to kill you?" Ivy asked as she stepped into the kitchen, as she sipped on a blood bag. Speaking of Caroline she just stepped through the door in a yellow sundress as she put down her purse and keys on the counter.

"Who are we going to kill?" Caroline asked while smiling at Ivy.

"Ooo Daddy's in trouble." Alaric snickered. "Oh god, that did not sound right?" He finished after he realized what he had said. Stefan shot him a look and then turned around to face Ivy and Caroline with a weak smile. And like he had suspected their mouths had dropped open.

"Stefan!" They screamed as they stepped forward to further examine the ink spill on his shirt.

"How did you even manage to do this?" Ivy asked considering how big the ink spill was on it.

"Do you know how hard it is to find a shirt that matches the color of your eyes perfectly?" Caroline shrieked without thinking.

"You got me this because it matched my eyes?" Stefan questioned smittenly as he stared Caroline in the eyes but she refused to look at him as the blood rose to her cheeks.

"_I_ got it for you because it was cute but now you ruined it." Ivy replied not noticing what was happening between him and Caroline, she was shaking her head at her ruined present. But quickly decided it was a lost cause and went back to her blood bag at the counter right next to Alaric.

"Just take off the shirt, I'll try to salvage it." Caroline said flustered but still determined to save the shirt.

"Do you really think that's necessary?" Stefan replied as he figured the shirt was a goner.

"Just do it, Stefan!" Caroline demanded and Stefan quickly started unbuttoning as he was afraid of what Caroline would do if he didn't. But in his nervousness he fumbled with the buttons and Caroline's impatience she started to help him unbutton the shirt. It wasn't until Stefan had taken off the shirt completely that Caroline was entrapped by the ridges in his abs. She swallowed hard and Stefan hadn't realized that she was staring until he handed her the shirt and she didn't seem to be grabbing it. Then he smiled like an idiot while Caroline stared at the ground like a fool, hoping her shoes were more interesting than his body.

"Can you guys just get together, already?" Ivy asked as she finished slurping her blood bag.

"Yeah I agree, we all know that it's gonna happen eventually. So why not just let it happen now?" Alaric added on and Ivy and him nodded in agreement until they turned around to face the embarrassed and very much angry glares from Caroline and Stefan.

"Aren't you suppose to be going to the mall?" Caroline asked Ivy in frustration.

"And Alaric don't you have to call Jo or something?" Stefan said with an edge hoping he would get the hint.

"Nope Jo is fine. You know who's not fine? You guys."Alaric replied.

"You know I can't leave to the mall until Jeremy comes and picks me up." Ivy replied to Caroline with a look, she got the hint but she was hoping they would get the hint that they need to get together asap. Caroline yanked the shirt out of Stefan's hand and headed to the bathroom. Stefan turned to Alaric and Ivy as if they were the ones to blame.

"Really?"

"Really what?" Alaric replied as he got his own blood bag.

"Jeez we finally decide to voice what everyone is thinking and somehow we're the criminals." Ivy replied on the offense, of course and her accomplice nodded accordingly.

"That's it, go to your room." Stefan said as he ran his hands through his hair not sure how to handle the situation. Alaric coughed on his blood considering he couldn't believe he just sent a grown woman to their room.

"You're not serious." Ivy giggled, she figured he was joking.

"Oh I am. I'm sure you haven't cleaned up that mess you made." Stefan said authoritatively and Ivy finally noticed that he wasn't joking that he was actually being serious.

"So all of a sudden my work is a mess. You didn't have a problem with it earlier." Ivy said as she neared Stefan.

"Well I have a problem with it now." Stefan stepped forward as well, not ready to back down.

"No you don't. You just have a problem with the fact that I embarrassed you." Ivy stepped an inch closer and they were dangerously near each other.

"How about we all calm down." Alaric interfered, stepping between the two, hoping that he could put a stop to the ascending distress in the room.

"Hey guys. Oh what is happening here?" Jeremy questioned as he entered the room sensing the tension in the air.

"Well you look at that, it seems as if my ride is here." Ivy faked a smile and headed towards Jeremy, considering she had just won this stupid contest for control of the room.

"I've just decided that you're not going to the mall." Stefan replied knowing that would give him full control again but why he had this thirst for control, he had no idea.

"What! You can't do that!" Ivy screamed as she turned to face again but this time she was clearly distraught.

"Yes I can." Stefan replied with a crack in his voice.

"Ok that's a dick move, Stefan." Alaric said as he knew that Stefan knew how much this meant to Ivy.

"Come on she's been looking forward to this all week." Jeremy begged for Ivy considering he was here to pick her up and he knew just how much she hated being cooped up in this apartment.

"I don't care." Stefan said, confirming it as his final decision despite the unsettling feeling in his stomach.

"I've just decided I don't care either. Let's go Jeremy." Ivy stood by her impulse decision as she grabbed Jeremy by his wrist and lead him to the door, she would not subject herself to tyranny.

"Don't you dare step out that door Jeremy." Stefan said as he pointed a stern finger to Jeremy, knowing full well that Jeremy would listen. And as he suspected the boy stopped in his tracks, torn between following Ivy or listening to Stefan.

"Stefan…" Alaric began but was quickly silenced by the look Stefan gave him.

"What is happening here?" Caroline as she re-entered without the shirt and confused in regard to the situation.

"Stefan's being an asshole. He thinks he can dictate my entire life." Ivy said with red hot tears dwelling in her eyes. She stuffed her arms into her jacket, still preparing to leave.

"What's she talking about Stefan?" Caroline asked as she turned to Stefan, sure she had heard wrong.

"He said she can't go shopping today." Jeremy explained hoping that Caroline would talk to Stefan who seemed to be thinking with his dick, apparently.

"What? That's a joke right? You know how long she's been looking forward to this." Caroline said turning to face him again in disbelief, wondering why on earth he would say this.

"I don't care, she's not going." Stefan had long realized that he was being completely irrational but he decided he couldn't just give in now.

"See he's being such an Adolf." Ivy muttered under her breath.

"Really, Hitler." Stefan scoffed at the far fetched comparison.

"Can we talk in private for a second?" Caroline asked but you could tell it was a demand as she shoved him into the hallway, so they could speak without other ears being privy. Which Alaric and Ivy found pointless considering their supernatural hearing, but they were surprised when they were greeted by the incessant scratching of a pen on paper instead of whispering voices.

"Caroline is too clever for her own damn good." Alaric stated as he quit trying to strain his ears because he wasn't going to get anything from this and Ivy realized this too.

"Wait, what's Caroline doing?" Jeremy asked considering he couldn't hear through walls.

"Hey guys." Elena said as she busted through the door, her purse in her hand that seemed to be bursting with books.

"Hey. She's passive aggressively writing notes to him." Alaric answered as he waved to Elena and answered Jeremy.

"I'm hoping she's writing every foul word in the english language." Ivy added as she stood in the corner awaiting the verdict.

"Oh. So, I'm guessing you're mad at Stefan." Elena predicted considering he was the only person missing besides Caroline.

"Yes he's trying to revoke my shopping privileges." Ivy sighed at the unfairness of it all, if she were a true rebel she would have left despite the argument.

"Why would he do that?" Elena questioned considering it didn't sound like Stefan, the only reason he would do that is if he felt people were in danger.

"Because he's clearly pmsing." Ivy said with a stomp of her foot as her impatience bubbled.

"Alaric?" Elena asked thinking he might have the actual reason she didn't think her brother would know considering she arrived with him she was just talking to Liam on her phone before she entered.

"I don't know, he might actually be pmsing." Alaric said with a toss of his shoulders he was just as confused as Elena.

"Whose pmsing?" Caroline asked with a smile considering they were in a room full of vampires and one human boy she knew very well no one was actually pmsing.

"Nobody." Jeremy answered sharply hoping to avoid anymore conflict.

"So what's the verdict, will I be served justice or an unfair sentence for an imaginary crime?" Ivy said with a crossing of her arms.

"Stop being so melodramatic, Ivy." Stefan sighed.

"No I think she's being just the right amount of melodramatic regarding the situation." Caroline said in Ivy's defense.

"Thank you Care." Ivy said with immense appreciation and a smile, they know outnumbered Stefan.

"Now tell her what you have to say." Caroline said with a pat on his back.

"We have decided that you do deserve to go to the mall and that it's only fair considering we've had you locked up since you turned." Stefan said reluctantly.

"And?" Caroline chimed.

"And I'm sorry for being completely irrational." Stefan sighed with a weak smile he knew he was acting like a butthead earlier.

"And?" Ivy asked still awaiting something else.

"And what?" Stefan he was pretty sure he had covered all the bases. Ivy coughed as she gave a side nod to Caroline while covertly rubbing her fingers to indicate that she needed the money. Caroline blinked for a second and then nodded when she understood and turned to whisper to Stefan. Stefan's brows creased slightly more as he reluctantly reached in his back pocket to pull out his wallet. He handed Ivy his credit card.

"Oh and here's my credit card." He muttered through his teeth, yes he had originally offered but know he felt like he was doing it against his will.

"That's all I wanted to hear." Ivy smiled from ear to ear as she snatched the credit card from his clenched hand.

"Now remember I want you to have 3 blood bags on standby at all times, and if too many people are nearby leave immediately. Remember be extremely safe, got it?" Stefan said with care as he held Ivy by the shoulders, activating his protective mode.

"You've drilled it into to my head if I don't got it by now, I'll never have it."

"Unlike this sack of potatoes Ivy, I just want you to have fun and when you get back you have to show me everything you bought." Caroline said standing behind Stefan and putting her arms on his shoulders, indicating that he should relax.

"Yeah me too." Elena added she was a sucker for new clothes and she couldn't wait to see what she bought.

"Oh don't worry, I will!" Ivy said with a renewed excitement.

"What do you mean everything? Isn't she just buying one outfit?" Stefan asked in confusion to him one outfit was a dress and some shoes.

"Right.." Ivy, Caroline, and Elena said in unison with a wry laugh.

"Do you not know women, like at all?" Alaric laughed at his clear lack of knowledge of women's shopping habits and everyone laughed, well everyone besides Stefan.

"Let's go Jeremy, before they change their minds." Ivy said as she grabbed his wrist again.

"Okay. Oh yeah heads up Matt and Sarah are in the car."

"Great I've been dying to meet them and ask them about Bonnie."

"Well Sarah never met Bonnie but Matt and her go way back." Jeremy explained as he and Ivy disappeared.

"Sarah?" Stefan questioned wondering if there was a new Sarah and not the one who had dropped a bomb on him and Damon before.

"Yeah Sarah, Jeremy's friend she's cool." Nope it was the same girl, that was still around.

"How come we've never met before?" Alaric asked wondering why he didn't know about Sarah considering he knew about most of the people in Jeremy's life, if not all.

"Oh we've met her. In fact I kinda almost drained her until Caroline stopped me." Elena said with a nervous laugh as she remembered her drug addiction.

"But you compelled her right?" Stefan said with a sense of urgency.

"Yeah I did but then she kinda wandered into Mystic Falls and the magic of compulsion doesn't work there. So she totally knows we're vampires which is why I said she's cool." Elena explained with an air of relaxation which only translated into erratic nervousness for Stefan, as he remembered he didn't bother to compel her when Damon kicked her out that day.

"What!" How could they have possibly let a stranger live with the secret of vampires and why was she perfectly okay with the fact that she was surrounded by them.

"Chill, Stefan she swore she's not going to tell anybody, she's just looking somewhere to fit in. She probably figured a gang of misfit vampires wouldn't reject her." Elena said in her defense, sure the girl was problematic but she had her reasons.

"I don't trust her." Stefan said without any explanation as to why and Alaric couldn't help but look at him suspiciously.

"You don't even know her and take it easy she's had a tough life." Elena defended the girl that was not present and decided that Stefan so desperately needed to take a chill pill.

"Still-" Stefan began.

"Listen who cares if she knows about us? What I want to know is how Ivy knows about… Bonnie?" Caroline said putting an end to the Sarah conversation for now.

"Wait, she didn't tell you? Jeremy told her about Bonnie and every since then she idolizes her. Now she's basically writing her biography." Stefan answered without much focus on what he was saying considering his mind was still being devoured by the concept of Sarah… Sarah Salvatore.

"Yeah we spent an afternoon just talking about her. It was nice, you know being able to talk about Bon." Elena added with a melancholy smile appearing on her face thinking of her deceased friend.

"Yeah she asked me about her too, sadly I didn't have much to add. But I told everything I could." Alaric tacked on with a slight bitterness at the fact that he had barely gotten to know the girl who brought him back to life.

"Well _I_ have a lot to add, Bonnie was my best friend why didn't Ivy ask _me_ about her?" Caroline whined as she became upset as to why Ivy a person she had grown very close to wouldn't bother to ask her of all people about her best friend.

"Well she knew you were busy this week. Anyways don't worry you'll have all the time in the world to talk to her." Stefan consoled her as he could tell that this news was clearly upsetting her.

"Speaking of busy, _we_ need to get busy. Enzo and Damon have been missing for the last 4 days." Alaric said bringing up the reason why they have all congregated in his kitchen.

"And either that means that they finally decided to tie the knot and they're on their honeymoon, or something's up." Caroline said as she snapped herself right back to business, which at the moment was finding the missing duo.

Damon and Enzo were huffing as usual after their consistent state of torture. But Damon felt elated if only for a little bit because he knew that after the fourth shower everyday they had an extra hour before they had to experience agony again. They didn't know why that is but they just figured that Tripp was on his lunch break and he wouldn't want to torture them when he isn't around. Because what would be the fun in that? If he wouldn't be present to feel the ultimate satisfaction of their screams echoing through the tiny halls that led to his office.

"You know I think I'm actually starting to enjoy these showers." Damon laughed pitifully and looked at Enzo thinking he'd probably appreciate his sarcasm. But Enzo wasn't listening to him in fact he had kept his promise he hadn't uttered a single word since his deal with Damon. Instead he had opted for banging his head against one of the rails that encaged him and he would only stop when the showers turned on and then he'd get right back to banging his head. Damon was afraid he'd lost his damn mind that after all this torture that he had finally broken not being able to handle it any more. Also Damon didn't know how much he appreciated Enzo's constant nagging until all he had to hear was the consistent banging of Enzo's head. The noise was completely infuriating as it echoed in his head like church bells.

"If this is what you're going to do for the rest of our time here, I'd rather you talk." Damon said in a bargain plea because if Enzo had lost his mind it wasn't far long before he did, if he hadn't already. But Enzo didn't listen to him, he just kept on banging his head against the bars with a deliberate intensity.

"Enzo stop." The banging continued as did Enzo's blank expression.

"Enzo, please stop." The bangs startled to rattle through Damon as each one resonated with him.

"Stop!" Damon yelled and with one last bang Enzo heard a crack and a smile spread across his face, as he sat up abruptly looking every bit a maniac. Damon had no idea what his intentions were but he would be lying if he said he wasn't the least bit scared. But Enzo stopped laughing as he focused himself on another task he put his arms over his head and grabbed the bar that he had been banging his head on and pulled with a bit of reluctancy the bar finally gave way and fell over his head and onto his lap.

"What the hell are you doing?" Damon asked freaking out because if this was Enzo's escape plan he wanted to know and he wanted in. But Enzo did not reply to him as he grabbed the cuff on his left wrist. Just touching it, seared his skin but he grabbed and pulled it against his wrist. Even with the vervain burning through his wrist and eating at his flesh the Augustine vampire didn't flinch. But when he reached bone he did bite his bottom lip and pulled with all his dwindling strength. Damon eyes nearly fell out of his head as he watched him basically saw off his own hand, he swore he had seen this in some terrible horror flick somewhere. With one last grunt his hand came clean off and fell onto the ground in a pile of its own blood. Enzo had bit down on his lip so badly that it had started to bleed but he licked it away savoring the only blood he could taste even if it was his own. He slid his arm out of the cuff thus freeing him on one side with the hand that was still a permanent fixture on his body he picked up the one that no longer was. He then wrapped his arm with the missing limb around the lengthy bar and jabbed his detached hand on to the bottom.

"What the hell?" Damon cringed at how easily he just planted it on there sure it was no longer connected to his body but it hurt just from looking at it. Enzo brought a finger from his makeshift extended hand bar to his lips.

"Shhh." He laughed and then Damon knew Enzo had completely lost his sanity. Enzo then began to concentrate on exactly how he wanted to arrange the fingers on his bar he decided he liked it better when the index finger was slightly closer to his thumb and all the other fingers kind of framed around the index. He then pushed his bar onto the ground using it as a crutch as he rose for the first time in what felt like eternity he felt as if his knees would give out any minute but he refused to let them do so as he made himself stand straight and walk a couple steps toward Damon. Damon looked at him the like he was god or the devil he couldn't quite decide which one he was just yet. He was cautious as Enzo approached him with his contraption and Damon wondered if this is where Enzo repaid him for what he did to him in Augustine. He knew he deserved it, I mean the man was tortured for decades because he was the world's biggest piece of shit. Damon closed his eyes and awaited his due, he decided not to beg because he knew this was the fate he deserved. But the moment did not come. Damon's eyes shot open as he wondered exactly what the hell was taking Enzo so long. Damon was in shock to learn that Enzo was actually not trying to end his life but that he was using his extended hand to grab Ms. Cuddles. A sigh of relief escaped him but then he quickly turned towards the action as Enzo attempted to grab Ms. Cuddles. It was like watching a little kid trying to fish out bear from a sea of toys with an unaccomodating crane.

"Move it just slightly to the left." Damon told him as he was now fully engaged at the task at _hand_, considering he very much wanted to be reunited with his bear. Enzo's hand finally hooked right under Ms. Cuddles arm and neither of them inhaled as neither of them wanted to risk the possibility of dropping her. Time froze over as the bear inched closer and closer and sweat beaded on their foreheads. The cuff that restrained Enzo from moving any further was burning into his wrist and he no longer had any skin on that wrist but Enzo had a supernatural determination. Finally Ms. Cuddles made it through the final lap as Enzo brought her through the bars and she entered their atmosphere. He dropped her in Damon's lap and Damon sat motionless as he stared at Cuddles in awe he couldn't believe she sat before him. They had been reunited, once again. He rushed to hug her and if she had any life in her she'd be dead from the grip he had on her. Enzo glanced at him funny as he made his way back to his corner and took his hand off the bar and returned the bar to where he found it. He plopped himself down in the corner as his little mission had knocked the wind out of him. He took his missing limb and reattached it to his wrist, it took a while since his healing process had been delayed.

"Now there, you and your beloved teddy bear have been reunited. Was it worth all the work I put into getting you that god forsaken bear? God, no. It was definitely not worth it." Enzo said as his hand finally reattached and he looked up with a small smile a part of him had thought he'd lost the limb forever over a cuddly bear. But when he saw Damon's face it was so strange he had never seen him look so elated. He his eyes had watered as he clung onto the bear with his dear dead life and Enzo couldn't help but think maybe it was a little worth it because he had never seen a look of such pure joy on the man.

"Thank you." Damon whispered to him and Enzo was stunned, Damon was never the one to say thank you or appreciate things, clearly this bear meant a lot more than he thought it did and that just spiked his curiosity all the more.

"No problem, mate." Enzo finished not really sure what to say as he watched his friend smile over a teddy bear that is clearly more than just an ordinary teddy bear. This specific teddy bear had a story and Enzo wanted to know the untold tale of this teddy bear and just how it had come to mean so much to a person who didn't care much for anything other than himself.

"I'm getting tired." Jeremy whined.

"Can we just take a break?" Matt added as both he and Jeremy we're tired of looking at endless variations of the same thing.

"We haven't even been to half the stores." Sarah replied as she was having much needed girl time and she learned that she liked Ivy although Ivy could be a bit too energetic.

"Sarah's right! I still haven't gone to Cache and I love Cache!" Ivy said with her hands in the air.

"Ca-what? And you already bought enough clothes." Matt countered. But Jeremy already knew shopping with Ivy wasn't going to be any easier than shopping with Elena and Caroline, so he had planned for this bringing his sketchbook along with him.

"I still haven't found _the_ outfit." Ivy said as she was set on her mission.

"Exactly she hasn't been out in forever she needs the perfect outfit." Sarah said in her defense because she totally understood as she crossed arms with Ivy and they set sight on a new store, leaving the boys behind.

"Matt, don't you know there is no such thing as enough clothes." Jeremy chuckled as he speeded towards the girls and Matt trailed behind as he rolled his eyes. Several stores later they finally arrived at the aforementioned Cache with a surplus of new shopping bags that not only included a new wardrobe for Ivy but also a couple of distressed jeans for Sarah, a black jumpsuit for Elena, beautiful sundresses for Caroline, a new leather jacket for Damon, couple of v-necks and a vintage watch for Stefan, and a button down that made Matt's eyes pop with a pair of new shoes that are not work boots and a nice brown cardigan. For Jeremy, Ivy got him a haircut because she thought that his hair was in tragic need of one and after they saw how the haircut made him swoon-worthy they absolutely had to buy him a jacket. It turns out that Ivy was very generous with Stefan's money. At the moment Ivy was currently in the process of trying on a rose pink baby doll dress while Sarah wore a starch blue dress with a giant bow on it and they stepped out to show the guys.

"No." Jeremy quickly stated.

"Yeah I agree, you guys look like Easter threw up on you." Matt added especially in the case of Sarah's dress considering it was horrific.

"I thought it would be cute." Sarah smiled as she curtsied in her dress that she would never be caught dead in public with.

"How about we scratch cute and go for something more… fun." Jeremy hesitated as he wanted to use the word sexy but knew it wouldn't receive a good reaction.

"You know what Jeremy your right. I'm 27 it's time for me to ditch cute, I need to look hot!" Ivy decided.

"We fully agree which is why we have taken the liberty of choosing some dresses ourselves that we think might be a little fun." Matt smiled hoping they'd go for the idea.

"Okay let's see it." Sarah said with a spark of curiosity and fear as to what they had chosen. Jeremy clapped after seeing they were on board and quickly grabbed the dresses he had on stand by and handed each girl the one they had chosen.

"Yeah, no." They both answered simultaneously.

"What? Why?" Jeremy asked considering both he and Matt had really put some thought into this so that they could leave faster.

"Because this isn't even a dress I mean what is this?" Ivy said as she stuck her hand through a huge hole in the Sarah's dress.

"Please, just try them on. We've seen you guys try on thousands of outfits the least you could do is try out our choices." Matt said with his usual charm that made it hard to say no.

"Fine, we'll do it." Sarah replied considering she found it hard to resist Matt's blue eyes.

"But this is the only time, so are you sure these are the dresses you want us to try on?" Ivy asked giving them one last chance to redeem their choices.

"Yes!" Matt and Jeremy replied in unison as they shoved them into the dressing room and for the first time they awaited them eagerly. Ivy and Sarah reluctantly went inside and changed and when they saw the results, they had a lack of words. They both stepped out of their dressing rooms and faced each other.

"Oh. my. god." Ivy whispered to Sarah.

"Holy shit." She replied as they turned to face the boys.

"We look great!" Sarah finished.

"Great? We look fantastic!" Ivy squealed as she twirled around. The dress they had chosen for her was a nice creamy gold that flared just a bit at the bottom. The dress was practically backless as it only had two straps criss crossed and the rest was her bare back, the front wasn't the most modest either as it showed just the slightest bit of cleavage. Sarah on the other hand came out looking like a vixen in a cobalt blue midi bodycon dress with sleeves and whereas Ivy's dress lacked in back, Sarah's lacked in front. The reason being the huge cut-out strategically placed under her breasts, so that she can show off part of her toned stomach.

"See, we know what we're talking about." Jeremy said with a smirk as he high-fived Matt.

"You guys really do look fantastic though." Matt said again and the girls could just melt from his smile and charm.

"Aww Matt you're so sweet. Thank you, but no really how did you guys do it?" Ivy interrogated as she sat next to Matt.

"Yeah because their is no way you guys chose these dresses all by yourselves." Sarah said as she pointed an accusing finger at the both of them.

"Au contraire, but we did." Jeremy replied pointing right back at Sarah.

"Yeah, we just figured these would be the best dresses for you guys."

"Okay let say we believe you. Now why of all these dresses did you choose these dresses?" Ivy leaned into Matt sure that their lie would slip up, they had to have gotten help from an employee.

"Well if you must know, I chose these dresses because of the colors. I figured that gold would look well on your skin because it would make you glow and that blue would look nice on Sarah's because it would make her pop. And I was right." Matt explained smugly because he did know what he was talking about.

"Alright, fine. Why did you choose these dresses, Jeremy?" Sarah asked with a raise of her brow.

"Well I liked the colors but I chose them because of the silhouettes that would look the best on each of your figures."

"Mmmm, I still don't believe you." Sarah answered still skeptical as she rested her head on her hand.

"You're just mad that we totally Tim Gunn'ed this." Jeremy snickered as he fist pounded Matt because they had won this battle.

"Wait, you guys know who Tim Gunn is?" Ivy questioned in disbelief.

"Of course we do. I'm starting to get offended at how much you underestimate us." Matt said in mock disappointment as he placed his hand on his chest.

"No but really how do you guys know who Tim Gunn is?" Sarah asked considering this was the first she had heard of straight guys knowing who Gunn is.

"You mean how could we not know who Tim Gunn is?" Jeremy countered as the boys laughed to themselves.

"Considering Elena and Caroline forced Bonnie, Jeremy, and I to watch every single season." Matt added cracking up at the fact that he had found himself enjoying it more than he would admit.

"It's like that kind of blood orange." Jeremy explained to Matt as he touched the couch.

"Blood orange she's so pretentious. Shut up, it's fucking red." Matt said with a roll of his eyes and the girls practically died from not being able to contain their laughter at their uncanny impressions.

"Wait so Bonnie didn't like Project Runway?" Ivy asked intrigued to learn this tidbit of information.

"No, not really. She grew to love it like the rest of us but she much rather be watching a documentary on Discovery Channel or Avatar the Last Airbender." Matt answered reminiscing of all the times he had to watch a documentary on space, because Bonnie was just fascinated by space and its endlessness.

"Dude, she loved Avatar!" Jeremy smiled as he remembered endless marathons of ATLA.

"Yeah I mean but who doesn't love Avatar, though?" Matt countered.

"True." Sarah and Jeremy nodded in agreement.

"Wait, are you guys talking about that kid cartoon show?" Ivy asked and the reaction she garnered made her feel embarrassed considering they looked extremely offended.

"First off all, it's not a cartoon. It's an anime." Sarah declared first.

"Second it's not just for kids. The great thing about Avatar is that it's for people of all ages as it teaches a spectrum of important life lessons." Jeremy added in defense.

"And lastly, Avatar is not _a_ show. If Bonnie were here right now she'd tell you that it's _the_ show, the _only_ show worth watching." Matt finished knowing fully that's exactly what Bonnie would have said considering she had said it before, back when she was still around.

"Wait so what else did Bonnie like to do?" Ivy wondered because she had gotten a lot of stories about Bonnie from everyone else but nobody else really spoke on what she liked to do when she wasn't busy saving the world. Jeremy decided that Matt and Ivy should have their privacy to speak of Bonnie as he was granted the same right.

"Hey, why don't we go look for some… shoes, to go with your dress?" Jeremy asked Sarah considering Sarah knew nothing about Bonnie other than she was a touchy subject for Jeremy but she was realizing that he was getting better with dealing with his emotions.

"Yes, let's." Sarah agreed as she yanked Jeremy off the couch and headed to the shoe section.

"Umm no offense, Ivy but why are you so curious about Bonnie?" Matt wondered himself he had the right to know why someone was snooping into his best friends past life.

"Oh Jeremy, didn't tell you? I'm writing a biography on her."

"You? But why? You didn't even know her."

"Exactly! I feel like nobody knew her, and she deserves to be known." Ivy argued and her words hit Matt with a sense of truth because he knew exactly what she meant.

"Bonnie…Bonnie was my best friend in like, the entire world. Bonnie was also the toughest person I know, scratch that I'll ever know. She's tougher and braver than all the things that lurk in the shadows of this town. But when Bonnie wasn't busy saving our asses, which was like everyday, she wasn't Bonnie Bennett the witch, she was just Bonnie Bennett my friend. " He ended on a sad note as he realized just how much he missed his best friend.

"And what did your friend like to do?"

"Well Bonnie was different from all the other girls of our high school. She wasn't obsessed with parties and boys, well I mean she was but not to the same extent as the other girls. She loved being outside and going hiking. Oh god, Elena and Caroline hated hiking but Bonnie loved it and honestly I didn't mind. Bonnie wasn't one to talk about her problems so whenever something troubled her we wouldn't tell anyone and we would just go on long hikes. After the Salvatores came around we we're hiking almost every week. At one point she wouldn't even have to ask I'd just have our boots in my truck and we'd head out right after lifeguard duty. We kinda stopped with the hikes after her Mom left her for the second time. And then senior year started and nobody knew much about what was happening with Bonnie, not even me. Our last hike we just stared at the horizon for hours and I guess I kinda knew back then that would be our last hike. Something about it just seemed final, I had said goodbye to my sister and she had said goodbye to her mother again. At that point in our lives we kinda ran out of words, so a silence fell over us. But I think of all the sunsets we had seen, that was the best one it was so vivid and bright. And after it set, she hugged me and told me that she loved me and I told her I loved her too… I miss our hikes." Matt finished with tears in his eyes as he remembered hugging his best friend back when he could still hear her breathing heavy in his ear trying to contain herself from crying but he always told her to let it all go. But by the time she pulled away she'd always have the biggest smile on her face and she had the most beautiful smile but he knew there was a world of pain behind that beautiful smile. Ivy hugged him she couldn't help herself she knew that he had been through alot and that he missed her like crazy.

"I'm sorry Matt." Ivy whispered and Matt just laughed but it was more bittersweet than funny.

"But other than hikes, Bonnie loved kicking my ass in scrabble. She loved going to museums and she could tell you about almost any painting. The girl was like an encyclopedia I learned more from her than I ever did at school. But if you want to know more about her when she wasn't rolling in mud with me, you should probably ask Caroline." Matt said as he pulled out of the hug, regaining his usual charming smile.

"Oh yeah, I plan too but she's been busy."

"Why don't you just ask her when you get home?"

"Well they're busy trying to track down Damon and Enzo." Ivy explained.

"What?" Matt swallowed.

"Stefan thinks Damon is missing but I keep on telling him he's probably just in a bar in some town getting drunk out of his mind." Ivy laughed in the short time she had gotten to know Damon she learned that he was very much stuck to the bottle, like a baby to milk.

"Knowing Damon, yeah." Matt chuckled awkwardly but for some reason was starting to look queasy all of a sudden.

"Are you ok?" Ivy questioned noticing the shift in his behavior.

"Yeah, it's just a lot of..emotions. I think I just need some fresh air." Matt said as he got up off the plush seats of the dressing room.

"Umm..okay. I'll just go ring this up and we'll be done, since this dress is the one." Ivy said as she admired her dress one more time.

"I'm glad you love it. I'll look for Jeremy and Sarah." Matt smiled but it wasn't as charming as before. This time his smile was hiding something and since Ivy didn't know him too well, she decided not to pester him. But she could tell something was wrong.

Gun training had been particularly unusual, well at least that's what Kai deemed it to be. Because Bonnie happened to be infinitely better at shooting a moving object than she was at a still one, and that was completely illogical. In fact Bonnie hadn't managed to hit one still target but when he was running through the trees she managed to shoot him in every single vulnerable joint. Kai found it interesting to say the least, he asked her why this was. Her only response that she guessed she was better at predicting where a target is going to land. But that still made no sense to Kai because she should predict that a still object would remain in the same location, but nonetheless she picked up shooting like a pro well when he was the target anyways. After dying a couple of times from the shot wounds, Kai called it a day as it started to rain at 4:13. And apparently that's exactly when Bonnie decided to finally land one shot on a still target, as he stood motionlessly taking in the refreshing rain. She shot him right in the temple from a 20 foot distance, and she danced in the rain from joy as she he quickly died. She was proud of herself she had managed to hit a still target.

After Kai shed the bullet from his head, he awoke from the muddy ground, grabbing the bullet that had pierced his skull. The one bullet that happened to hit something still. He made his way up to the treehouse to find Bonnie bundled up in the wicker sofa, reading.

"So you finally decided to hit something that didn't move?"

"Yeah I know. Impressive, right?" Bonnie smiled without taking her nose out of her book.

"Don't you think it's a funny coincidence that the only target you could hit, happened to be me?" Kai asked with a sarcastic shrug of his shoulders.

"That's not true, I'm pretty sure I hit that soda can one time." Bonnie still devoured by whatever book she happened to be reading.

"Nope. That was me. You hit me when _I_ was setting up the soda can." Kai said as his lips rolled into his mouth in a semi smile

"Oh. Well then I guess you are right." Bonnie said finally looking up from her book to calculate if he was actually right, then snapped right back to her book.

"Don't you think that's just a little strange?" Kai said as he plopped next to her on the small couch.

"Nope." Bonnie said without even glancing at him. Kai's suspicion increased as he wondered what book could possibly be more interesting than him, so he reached over and pulled the book out of her hands like an entitled prick.

"Seriously, the history of the India." Kai asked he at least thought that the book would be remotely interesting like maybe different ways to execute and get away with murder. Now that would be an interesting book to read, sadly he had yet to find that book. Maybe he should write it, actually no he couldn't because he lived for the bloody gore afterwards he dwelled in it, he wasn't much for the sanitation process. He threw the book across the room and it landed with a thud on the porch, because he would rather Bonnie pay attention to him.

"Hey, I got that book from the Taj Mahal! It's valuable." Bonnie growled as she went to go pick it up.

"Bonnie you should know by now that nothing in this world has value. Plus I can tell you more than that book ever could." Kai said with a roll of his eyes since she was a quick learner he figured she'd have known that by now.

"_God_, you swear you know _everything_." Bonnie rolled her eyes as she went to place the book in her personal pile of books so that she could keep it away from Kai.

"I do know _everything_." Kai replied with a shit eating grin as he twisted his head to the side and his eyes fell on her.

"No you don't. You _literally_ live in a bubble." Bonnie said as she threw her hands in the air indicating the artificial world they were in would be as literal as living in a bubble would ever get.

"Yes but this bubble happens to be an entire _world_." Kai pointed out because she was right he did live in a bubble, but there was a lot to learn in this bubble, in fact he was pretty sure he had learned everything that this bubble could offer.

"Yes an entire _world_ with _no _people in it. A world where nothing makes a sound." Bonnie finished and as usual silence fell between them, the type of silence you could only get here, a true silence. She waved her hands in frustration at just how deafening this silence can be. But Kai just began to laugh it was cute seeing her get frustrated.

"Nothing teaches you the art of listening better than a world of silence. And with ears like mine you catch things quick." Kai explained as he stood while rubbing his ears.

"Yes but what is the point of having ears like yours, if there is no one to listen too?" Bonnie wondered still not seeing the advantage as she moved closer to him.

"See that's where we come to a misunderstanding. It's because I had no one to listen too that I have ears like mine and now I can use them to the extent of their ability, because I do have someone to talk too. I have you." Kai ended as he grabbed her chin and Bonnie knew it was a power play move but a part of her felt like he was flirting, or did she just want him to flirt with her?

"Are you saying that you've been listening to every word I say?" She asked slowly as she lifted her chin so slightly so that she can glare him in the eyes but Kai was torn between gazing at her eyes or her lips.

"Yes, even the ones you don't say." Kai said while completely enamored by her heart shaped lips that we're parted ever so slightly.

"Wow I didn't know I was so entertaining." Bonnie replied with what was suppose to be sarcasm but she was too busy to decide how plush his bottom lip was as she craned her neck a little more.

"Oh, but you are." He said still captivated by her, his nose gently rubbing against hers. For a second the only thing you could here were the sound of their anticipating breaths, wondering who was going to make the first move. And after what felt like years, Kai leaned down to meet his lips with hers. But as much as Bonnie wanted to feel his lips against hers she bit down on her bottom lip and pulled away, while laughing mischievously. Kai wasn't the only one who had power moves, she knew very well she had gained control of the room now. She continued to giggle to herself while biting down on her bottom lip and Kai had yet to move from his position other than his jaw dropping.

"Well considering, you've listened to me go on and on. I think it's only fair I start listening to you. So tell me something?" Bonnie smirked evilly as she found herself back on the sofa. Kai bit back on his bottom lip letting out a soft chuckle in response, he knew what she was doing. She was playing the game he had created, he lifted his head and addressed her.

"What do you want to know?" He intertwined his fingers behind him playing the part of an obedient little boy. Bonnie stopped for a second, she honestly hadn't thought that he'd play along.

"How exactly did you get trapped in here?" Bonnie asked proudly it was a good question that would probably unfold more about Kai and why he is the way is. Or if there is no reason and he was always just this way.

"That's a long story." Kai said as he began to walk away from her.

"As we both know, we've got time." Bonnie replied as she grabbed his wrist and forced him to sit next to her.

"That we do." Kai said with a wiggle of his eyebrows as he moved in closer and Bonnie pushed him back establishing their boundaries.

"So tell me."

"I don't think you and your _purity_ can handle it." Kai told her as he eased into his side of the sofa, in reality he had never told the story as to why he was here and he didn't know where to start.

"Tell. Me. The. Story. Kai." Bonnie said through gritted teeth he was starting to annoy her again.

"_Okay._" Kai said mimicking her and then another silence fell between them as he gazed out on to the porch.

"Well…" Bonnie inclined as the silence was killing her.

"Oh! You meant _now_." Kai said with the facade of oblivion.

"Yes, I meant _now_." If he kept this up Bonnie decided she was going to give him an aneurysm then listen to his sure to be conjured up, psychotic story.

"Alright then next time you should clarify that. Well here it is the reason I'm trapped here is because I killed my family. Well most of my family." Kai said with a grain of salt at the end of his sentence, regretting that he did not get to finish what he started.

"I know that you idiot. What I want to know is why?"

"Why? Are you searching to redeem me? Looking to see if I have that shred of hope you like to rant on about?"

"No. I know you were spawned by the devil. I just want to know the origin story to the nightmare I have the pleasure of sleeping with every night."

"Nightmare? I'm touched." He grinned savagely as he feigned awe by bringing his hand to his chest just to taunt her and she rolled her eyes response.

"But you were correct about more than me being a nightmare; I was spawned by the devil. Except I didn't call him Satan, I called him Father." Kai ends with a dry chuckle it's been a long time since he's said Father.

"What did he do?" Bonnie asked wondering what this man could have done to be considered evil in Kai's masochistic eyes.

"The real question is what didn't he do?" Kai said with a smirk that quickly fell.

"My father hated me with every part of his being, every second of his life he dedicated to plotting the best way to torture me. If you think I'm a demon, then you would run in the face of my father because he is the face of the devil." Kai spoke tightly as he had trained his voice to remain calm but when speaking of his father you could here the strain in his voice as he did everything he could not to reminisce. But it was to late, Bonnie had opened the door to his miserable past and the memories flooded in with no intent of stopping.

"But he's your dad, he's suppose to love you." Bonnie replied thinking of her father, sure they didn't have the best relationship but he loved her and she had no doubt about it. She couldn't possibly imagine what it would have felt like if on top of all things she lived through her father didn't love her. The mere thought of it caused her to shiver.

"You would think, right? But there is no legal binding contract saying that when you become a father, that it is required you love your children. You have an obligation to feed them, yes. To dress them, yes. To shelter them, yes. But to love them? No there isn't anywhere that says that a man must love his son, solely because he is his son. Love is not free. Love must be earned." Kai recited from memory as his father always said to him whenever he didn't understand why his father didn't love him. And Kai would always reply, "_Then show me, show me what I have to do to earn your love, Sir._" Kai then cackled maniacally as if he knew a secret that no one else did, it was the cackle of a mad man.

"Show you?" Kai said as if the mere idea of the sentence was ridiculous.

"Boy, you couldn't earn anyone's love. You're a monster and a monster will never know love. Not from anyone, not from a pretty girl, not from your brothers and sisters, but most importantly not from me. And if your mother was still alive she wouldn't love you either, she'd despise you." Kai spat with a carnivorous smile, it was the petty smile of a man who got his fill from knocking other people down. But his face fell quickly as his chest constricted and the simple act of breathing became hard, he felt as if the room had been emptied of oxygen and that he was drowning. He was drowning in the terrible memories of his past, memories of his father keeping him in the darkness, memories of his siblings constantly excluding him, memories of him crying for his mother at night. He quickly got up afraid that Bonnie would witness him in a mental state he did not understand. He fled to the balcony for some fresh air, hoping that it would somehow get to his lungs and save him from drowning in ancient thoughts. Bonnie chased after him but he kept her at arm's distance as he puked over the railing. Bonnie's maternal instinct kicked in and she pushed his arm aside and began to rub his back. Despite her knowing full well that Kai was crazy she still couldn't help but feel pity for him, his life somehow managed to be more fucked up than hers and hers is hard to beat. Kai didn't see it coming but another upchuck made its way up his throat, his eyes began to burn. Bonnie just continued to rub his back and didn't cringe when he threw up she was use to this considering she was always the responsible friend when her, Elena, and Caroline went out. She was use to holding hair up and rubbing backs. Kai hadn't realized what she was doing but it gave him a strange sensation, a strange sensation that he couldn't help but enjoy despite the figurative beating he had just taken.

"So you are capable of feeling?" Bonnie chuckled softly as she rubbed his shoulders and rested her head on his back.

"What are you doing?" Kai froze, nobody's ever touched him like this before.

"Comforting you." Bonnie said with a smile considering it was pretty obvious.

"Why?" Kai spun around and grabbed her hands to prevent her from rubbing him anymore or as she liked to call it, give him comfort.

"I don't know. Because you look like you needed it." Bonnie said with a sense of irritation as she pulled her hands from his.

"Why did I like it?" Kai asked still not understanding the concept of comfort and why he would need it or enjoy it.

"Because humans tend to like comfort since it makes them feel better." She responded slowly as if she were talking to a toddler hoping that he would be able to understand.

"Humans." He chuckled, himself as if the concept of him being human was foreign.

"Yes, humans. Which is what we are, what we both are." Bonnie said as she placed her hand on his shoulder maybe all this sociopath needed was to be reminded that he wasn't an animal but that he was indeed just like everyone else, human.

"Kai Parker the human? It doesn't have much of a ring to it, like Kai Parker the monster or Kai Parker resident sociopath." Kai said more confidently as he distinguished that he liked Bonnie's hand there and he made the conscious decision to leave it there.

"Ok. Kai Parker, resident sociopath." She said with a tap on his shoulder and she backed away from him to Kai's dismay.

"You see _that_ sounds like fun."

"I'm sure it does. Just remember you chose the title you wear." Bonnie said as she leaned against the porch railing and crossed her arms, adjusting herself to the quick change in conversation.

"Kai Parker the human sounds like plain yogurt. But Kai Parker, resident sociopath sounds like you're in for a ride. But now I'm curious _Bonnie Bennett, _what's your title?" The way he said her name made it sound like it was only meant to be heard in the bedroom as he looked out over the railing and then twisted his head to face her emerald eyes that pierced the night.

"Bonnie Bennett….town witch." Bonnie answered as she didn't really know what her title was, so she chose what she was known for.

"Now is that the title you chose or the one that was given to you? Because town witch sounds about as bad as plain yogurt." Kai commented as he invaded her personal space as he loved to do, his face hovering above hers. And she cowered in the lack of an answer.

"Hmm that's what I thought. I think you could do better than town witch. Think big! And then get back to me." He said as they stood side by side his body facing the woods and hers the treehouse but their eyes only focused on each other.

"Fine." Bonnie said looking at his lips once again and he smiled savagely in her response but then she focused on his icy cobalt yes and brought her forehead a millimeter from his and whispered;

"Did you choose resident sociopath or monster because that's what you want to be known as, or because it's all you've ever been called?"

**I really beat myself over this chapter and i still don't know how I feel about it, so please guys let me know what you think! And I kinda changed Kai's origin story a little bit since they don't really explain it in TVD, and you will learn more about Kai's origin story in the next 2 chapters I believe if everything goes as planned.**


	9. Strolling Into A Nightmare

**Hey guys what's up I know it's been forever but I have been extremely busy like with school and I have had let's just say a couple mental relapses and I had to work on that before I could ever feel the will to continue writing this story. But because of this and the fact that I honestly think nobody reads this story anymore, I am seriously contemplating in ending the series within the next 3 chapters although I originally planned for 40 (meaning I will probably have to completely change the ending). I am still sorry I keep you guys waiting. I have been writing this for 3 months and I figure I should just post it now or I'll never post it.**

His mind must have been a 24 hour convenience store because it refused to close down, as his thoughts ran rampant through his head well through the night. His mind was still wrapped on the one thing Bonnie had asked him, last night.

"_Did you choose resident sociopath or monster because that's what you want to be known as, or because it's all you've ever been called?" _Three days ago, Kai wouldn't have hesitated to answer that question. Because three days ago Kai knew exactly who he was. But now he was at a lack of words, and he found himself knowing himself less and less with each passing minute. And he couldn't understand why, just like he didn't understand why he broke down over his father yesterday. He had gotten over him and his abuse or so he had thought, yesterday proved he hadn't. Giving Kai the urge to decapitate his head not that he hadn't already planned on doing it, upon his return to the present, but the feeling just intensified along with his need for his father's acceptance. Kai tossed and turned on the mattress and his array of plush pillows to find himself facing a peaceful Bonnie in slumber. He felt the unnecessary crazed urge to run his fingers through her short hair. So he did. He wasn't disappointed, her hair was feather soft, as he ran it through his fingertips. For some inexplicable reason it soothed his relentless mind, he paused as he stared at her. She is beautiful.

"_But why does she act like she doesn't know it?"_ He traced the outlines of her face, and she softly smiled when he touched her lips, then for some reason he smiled as well.

"_What was she thinking in that infinite labyrinth she called her mind?" _He would do anything to have glimpse inside of her head, he wondered if it was scarier than his. Eventually he found his hand around her neck as his thumb traced her jawline. Her neck wasn't very long and it wasn't tense as it usually was.

"_She was the reason. The reason he was changing, the reason he was forgetting who he was." _Kai found his hand encased around the neck he once oh so joyously strangled. He found his hands getting tighter he could kill her without her ever knowing, but his eyebrows furrowed as he quickly let go.

"_He didn't feel joy when he tried to choke her, he felt... bad. What was happening to him?"_

He hadn't realized but he was breathing heavily to the point where he sounded like he was suffocating. Bonnie rubbed her eye as she woke up and noticed Kai's condition.

"Kai what's wrong?" As she grabbed his face and turned him back to face her.

"I...don't know." He whispered and she had never seen him look so helpless, all form of control gone from his demeanor. Bonnie looked outside and knew that it would rain soon, the sky was clouding over despite it still being emerged in a bleak darkness, meaning it was almost 4:13. She grabbed him by the arms and began to drag him out onto the porch, Kai didn't oblige but he didn't exactly help. By the time she got him to the porch the rain had begun.

"What.. are... you doing?" Kai asked between his huge intakes of air.

"Helping you." Bonnie replied as she leaned his head against the railing, it was her version of a cold shower for him.

"Just...kill me." Kai begged and Bonnie refused to see him this way. He was suppose to be strong, ruthless, what the hell was wrong with him?

"No." She replied shortly as she sat in front of him.

"If you kill me then it'll be over. And when I wake up, I'll be better. Like it never happened." He ended with a bittersweet smile hoping that she'd agree. His hair had begun to stick to his forehead just like hers.

"Is this how you never feel anything, Kai, because you kill yourself anytime you do?" Bonnie asked her eyes wide as she awaited an answer. And for the first time Kai backed down and looked away and she knew she had guessed right and she couldn't help but feel pity.

"Just do it, Bonnie." He muttered as he refused to look at her.

"No." Bonnie replied firmly, sure she had killed him sundry times but she wasn't going to kill him now. Kai winced in her reply.

"Fine, I'll do it myself." He quickly grabbed her wrist and pointed towards his hunting knife. "Motis." Bonnie didn't find the time to be angry that he had once again stole her magic as she jumped for the knife before he could plunge it into his chest. But Kai was adamant on this as he tried to push her off but she wrestled him and thank god for her training or else she wouldn't have lasted a second. But ultimately she sat on him to restrain the rest of his body as she twisted his wrist trying to make him let go of the knife in his hand.

"You can't just kill yourself everytime you feel something!" She grunted, but she knew Kai she knew she would have to break his wrist, so that's exactly what she did. She took the knife and transferred all her magic to it, so that Kai couldn't siphon it again, and chucked the knife over the railing and onto the ground below like a rotten banana peel. And just like Bonnie had thought he tried to siphon her again but came up empty and his face crumbled.

"Why?" He asked her, why she was torturing him. And Bonnie grabbed his wet face with her frigid hands, and stared into his wounded eyes.

"You have to feel it Kai. You have to feel all of it." She choked out sure that she would cry, seeing him broken in front of her.

"I can't." He whispered barely audible as he looked into Bonnie's eyes and she swallowed down her tears, this was not the time for her tears.

"Bullshit. You're Kai fucking Parker you can do anything." She stated and he didn't know what to say, his brows furrowed was she believing in him? He looked at her like really looked at her with her hair being matted to her face and her lashes sticking together as the water continued to pour and he couldn't help thinking that she had lost her fucking mind. Bonnie saw him in the pouring rain, his Nirvana shirt stuck to him like a second skin looking like a lost puppy, and his pink wet lips quivering ready to retort. So she brought her face to his and crushed her wet lips onto his. It was short and quick but it did the job, it stoked the emotional fire within him she could see it in his eyes. Then she enveloped him in a hug and whispered in his ear, "Let it all in." Then Kai did the strangest thing he had ever done in his life, he executed his first hug. He wrapped his arms around her as he shook underneath her and learned he never wanted to let her go. He didn't understand, despite the freezing rain falling on them he had never felt more warm. And then he let it all in, everything, every single painful memory and if Bonnie had been looking at his face she would have noticed that just the most miniscule amount of liquid had excreted from his cobalt eyes.

* * *

><p>"Alright Damon I think I've given you the appropriate amount of time to reconcile with your lover, here. So tell me what I want to hear." Enzo demanded it had been 5 minutes since there last torture session and Damon had hid the mysterious bear under his shirt in order for it not to get wet.<p>

"Ok, go ahead ask me what you want to know." Enzo took a second to decide what exactly he wanted to ask Damon sure, that he will not be answering more than one question at a time. So he decided he'd ask his original question.

"The _girl_?"

"What-" Damon began ready to feign stupidity considering he already had what he wanted.

"Bonnie Bennett. That girl. Now tell me what happened to her." Enzo glared at him, he wanted the truth and he wanted it now. Damon froze it's been awhile since he had heard her name out loud and it echoed through his brain on repeat.

_Bonnie Bennett the girl who sacrificed herself for him._

_Bonnie Bennett the girl who sacrificed herself for everyone._

_Bonnie Bennett the girl who no one remembered._

_Bonnie Bennett the girl who loved this bear._

_Bonnie Bennett the girl who smiled like heaven when she died._

_Bonnie Bennett the girl who suffered._

_Bonnie Bennett the girl who became his best friend._

_Bonnie Bennett the girl who died._

_Bonnie Bennett the hero._

"Damon-" Enzo began sure that Damon was trying to back out of there deal.

"She was _there,_ Enzo. She was with me the whole time. When the other side crumbled she was by my side and we were sure we were goners. But then all of a sudden we weren't, and we were stuck in 1994. Living the same day, over and over again. And I _thought_ that was the worst day of my life but it wasn't, because whenever I think back I remember the talks, the games, and the fights, and I remember how she became my best friend. Then I thought for sure that the _worst_ day of my life was when she sacrificed herself for me and I left her there bleeding to death in 1994. But I was wrong about all those days because the worst day of my life was when I learned she _died_." Damon spat out, as he felt like someone had just poured alcohol in an open wound. Enzo was at a loss of words, no wonder his friend seemed like he had lost his mind because he had. Then he stared at the bear wondering why it was so important and then it clicked.

"The bear...it's hers isn't it." Damon stared in the eyes he had just uttered the same words he said he never wanted to hear. That his best friend was dead and he had to say it, even though he didn't want to believe it, or else he would live in a state of fabricated reality.

"It _was_. She loved this bear more than anything in the world and with her dying breath, she sent it to me." Damon's eyes widened as he chuckled sadly, still wondering why on earth she would do a thing like that. Enzo didn't quite understand considering the situation wasn't exactly adding up, from what he had gathered Damon had left Bonnie in 1994 after she sacrificed herself but then while he was here somehow he learned that she died.

"Why did you leave her behind?" Was his first question in regard to this whole thing from what he can tell Damon didn't plan on leaving her behind.

"I didn't want to. I told her to _go_, to leave without me, but she didn't listen because she's so goddamn _stubborn_. There was someone else there his name is Kai and we planned on leaving him behind. Bonnie killed him but somehow he returned in the nick of time and shot Bonnie with an arrow, while she was saying the spell to get us out of there. The first thing I did was try to _save her_ but of course in all her _self-righteousness_ she begged me to stop Kai from leaving instead of saving her. And I was _stupid_ enough to listen, hoping that while I held him down she'd grab the ascendant and make it back home. But instead she threw the ascendant to me and now _I'm_ here." Instead of her, he finished in his head, he hadn't realized but his eyes had started to water. Enzo's heart went out to his friend but there was one thing still not clear here.

"If you're here and she's there how do you know she's dead?" Enzo asked considering Damon shouldn't be making such ludicrous claims, but Damon didn't respond.

"_I'm not going to make it, but you are." _ _And then she was smiling at him all over again, her green eyes piercing at him with unhinged joy. "Goodbye."  
><em>"_Goodbye."_

"_Goodbye."_

"_Goodbye."_

"Damon I know what it's like, I know that it's hard. But you have to tell me how do you know?" Enzo said as he tried to soothe him to answer before he closed up into his shell again. But Damon wasn't soothed he was furious.

"No **you** don't! **You** don't know what it's like!" Damon yelled at him, only seeing red. And that's when something inside of Enzo broke, and the calm nonchalant attitude he had exhibited up until that point disapparated.

"**Really!** I don't know what it's like to be _trapped_ somewhere against my will! And then enjoy the only company that didn't look at you like you deserved to be encaged like a _monster_! No, thanks to you Damon I know _**exactly**_ what that's like or did you forget?" Enzo finished and it was clear that Damon had hurt him more than any torture session ever could. Damon lost all his words and was consumed by guilt remembering the moment he left Enzo to burn, no he had not forgotten.

He loved to pretend to forget the mounting evidence proving that he would and will always be a monster, but he knew what he was and he was consumed by the guilt.

"I'm sorry for everything-"

"I don't want to hear your apologies, Damon." Enzo said sharply as he abruptly banged his head on the bar, as he tried to refrain the memories of Whitmore to come back, as he tried not to remember _her_.

"But I left you there. And I… I killed her." The memory was vague considering his extensive kill list but he remembered. And Enzo couldn't help but remember all the conversations Enzo had with her at night, hoping that one day he could join her outside those bars.

"I am well aware of what you did Damon. But it's in the past there is nothing we can do about it now, besides move on. And it wasn't like I was ever going to see her again." Enzo smiled tragically remembering when he compelled her for her own safety.

"Stop trying to convince me it's ok. That I'm not guilty. You could have seen her again, if I didn't betray you." Damon fought to apologize, he doesn't really do this much and Enzo was making it hard.

"I'm not trying to convince you it's _okay_, it's not. You can drown in your guilt for all I care. But you did what you _did _and it's done." Enzo finalized not wanting to talk about himself anymore.

"How can _you_ just be ok with that?" Damon asked perplexed, because Damon could hold grudges for centuries and here Enzo is just not having anything to do with that. Clearly he was a bigger man than he, but apparently everyone is.

"Are you not understanding? I'm not ok with it, but there is no point in dwelling in the past, when I have no control over it. I only have control of the present and right now I want you to tell me why you are so sure that Bonnie is dead." Enzo finished as he snapped back to his previous self and down to business. Damon paused deciding that Enzo would not be changing his mind anytime soon.

"...The bear showed me. She showed me everything but most importantly she showed me that right before Bonnie sent her to me she had decided to fall to her death."

"_Goodbye."_

"What?" How the hell had a bear shown him that, must be some spell he doesn't know about.

"She committed suicide, Enzo. She jumped off a cliff because she saw no way out, meanwhile I was here drinking to the point of alcohol poisoning doing absolutely nothing to save her." Damon laughed, he had been doing what he what always did, indulging in himself.

"Stop pitying yourself and tell me exactly how you know she's dead?" Enzo said as he was sick of hearing Damon crying over what he did and what he did not do.

"Are you not listening? I watched her fall. I watched her say goodbye with a smile on her face as she fell to the earth and I couldn't do anything but watch, because _I wasn't there._" Damon finished and the tears his translucent eyes had been trying to hold back had fallen.

"Ok but that doesn't mean she's dead, did you see anything after that? You said earlier that this Kai came back to life so why wouldn't she be able to come back to life as well?" Enzo's brows raised because he was pretty astounded at his logic. See what happens when your mind is clouded with raging emotion.

"Enzo she's **dead**, okay." Damon didn't look at him he was sick of saying it. Sick of knowing that his brother was right. If he had just listened to Stefan than maybe he wouldn't be in this mess. God when would he ever become level headed enough to understand the consequences of his actions.

"But how do you know for sure? For all you know she could be alive and fighting as we speak." Enzo smiled as he just cemented his belief in the fact that Bonnie was very much alive.

"Because it's _**Bonnie**_! She's the one who always dies." Damon heaved he was out of the breath he didn't require. He wiped the tears from his face, would you look at that some part of him was human he thought.

"No, that's where you're wrong, _because_ it's Bonnie. She's the one who always lives, because even when she dies she always comes back." Enzo told him, in the short time he has been roaming the present he had learned Bonnie has not only died once but multiple times, but yet she always found a way back.

"_All thirteen times." The words were faint in his ear like when you hear the wind rustle through leaves outside your window. But he heard them, he heard the smugness in his tone. And it irritated him beyond belief to know that Kai was right._

"All thirteen times." He echoed out loud.

"Wait, you're telling me the poor girl has died thirteen times?" Jesus he didn't think it had been that many he thought maybe 2 or 3 not 13. Damon rolled his eyes both at the idiotic question and the fact that he was about to admit Enzo was right.

"No. Listen you're right, she always comes back. But this time I can't let her come back. I have to go get her." Damon said finally making up his mind and this was the last time he would question himself, now it was a matter of getting out of Tripp's control.

"_We_ have to go get her." Enzo corrected him and Damon brows furrowed not understanding why Enzo of all people wanted to save Bonnie. Stefan he would understand, he has a hero complex but Enzo not so much.

"What? She saved my life too." Enzo replied to the question Damon had yet to ask, he didn't get to save his girl so he damn sure won't let Bonnie die as well.

"So you're in, even if we're only going back to get her corpse? Because I mean this is just all speculation." Damon stated as he tried to ground himself in a brutal reality.

"Must you be so morbid? I'm telling you the girl is alive." Enzo smirked with his chin up and if it weren't for him being covered in blood, you'd bet all your money on this guy solely from his confidence.

"How can you be so sure?" Damon not in doubt, but because he wanted to obtain the same belief he had.

"Because she's the girl who lived." Enzo answered simply as if he had that one up his sleeve for awhile.

"Harry Potter much?" Damon joked with a pop of his eyebrow and a smirk, he didn't know Enzo was up to date with the literature of the time.

"Wow, Damon I didn't know you read." Enzo retorted equally surprised, of course he had read it. When he returned he had heard it was the series of the century and it came from his homeland. And he couldn't deny that it was devastatingly good.

"I don't. Bonnie use to recite the whole Harry Potter Series by heart whenever we got sick of bickering." Damon recalled as he remembered their story nights, how a girl with just a human brain could memorize over 7 books word for word will always be a mystery to him. He smirked Bonnie was supernatural in more ways than one. Enzo caught the sweet reminiscent smirk on his face and couldn't help but ask.

"Speaking of you two on the other side, did you two ever I don't know.. fool around?" Enzo mused bringing his chin down so he could see Damon clearly.

"Yeah we use to fight over tetris all the time or anything really. I'd make her these pancakes she hated. Once we even had a dance competition." Damon recounted and he couldn't help but end with a soft laugh, thinking of the face she'd make whenever she saw those vamp cakes.

"Adorable, but that's not what I meant." Enzo clarified with a shit-eating grin on his face when Damon finally understood what he meant,

"Really Enzo? My best friend might be dead and you're asking me if we hooked up?" Damon groaned in disgust mostly because that was such a Damon thing to do.

"Well did you?" Enzo insisted, wanting to hear some juicy gossip after all this talk of tragedy.

"_**No!**_" Damon hollered clearly this was a touchy subject for him so obviously Enzo was going to continue push it.

"Calm down mate. It was merely a thought and it's a surprise to hear that you didn't. Considering how much of a slut you are. You must really like her, because 4 months alone with a pretty girl and I would have found some way to stay busy." Enzo surmised in his profound accent that only made his statement sound more lascivious. Damon was officially done hearing Enzo's version of he would tap that and not because Bonnie wasn't tappable but because it made his skin crawl.

"Sorry Enzo I was too busy pining over the love of my life who doesn't remember I exist." Damon quipped as he sadly reminded himself, that the girl he was head over heels over didn't remember him at all other then he was a monster.

"Oh I forgot. Sorry about that. You don't seem to particularly be having much luck this year." Enzo reckoned as if he just realized this, as if the fact that they were encaged and suffering wouldn't have brought him to that conclusion earlier.

"You're telling me, Captain Obvious." Damon said with a yank on his chains that said no duh. But Enzo ignored this he would much rather annoy Damon and converse about women then think about their crude situation.

"Just so I have my facts straight, though. You're telling me not once did you think about what Bonnie looked like underneath all those wretched layers?" Enzo inquired in a last ditch attempt to get Damon to admit that he wasn't completely blind towards Bonnie.

"Actually she didn't wear that many layers." Damon thought out loud as he recalled all the times she refused to wear a bra and thought he of all people wouldn't notice, and how she rarely wore anything that covered her toned legs. He also remembered the time he saw too much and then he quickly regretted everything as he saw Enzo's face light up like the Rockefeller Christmas tree.

"You saw her naked didn't you?" Enzo grinned deviously. Damon didn't want to know what was running through his mind.

"No." Damon retaliated sharply and it wasn't until later that Damon realized it wasn't really a fully formed answer at that moment Enzo definitely knew that he had.

"You are a terrible liar." Enzo chuckled.

"_It was an accident._" Damon stressed as he tried valiantly not to think about the accident in front of Enzo apparently the man had a sixth sense.

"A fortunate one. I would have paid to have seen that." In fact Enzo would have chopped his hand all over again just to see Bonnie's reaction.

"Wow, I finally get why girls hate it when guys come on too strong, it's _disgusting_. And aren't you suppose to be head over heels for Barbie?" Damon bugged hoping that he would finally shut up while making a mental note to be less gross to women in the future.

"Nonsense, women find me charming. _And_ unlike you I am capable of admiring more than just one woman's beauty." Enzo jabbed at him with a smile, and he wasn't lying. At the moment he was bored so he'd gladly talk about women like they were a piece of meat instead of thinking about how in a few minutes he would be a skinless piece of meat. But in reality Enzo was a gentleman something he was sure Damon knew nothing about.

"And since when does that include Bonnie?" Damon tried to jab back and ultimately failed.

"Well isn't that a bit rude towards Bonnie? You denying her beauty like that and ranking her in the same category as the butterfaces of the world." Enzo accused and shook his head in mock shame.

"That's not what I said." Damon replied quickly getting sick of this game.

"Well that's what I heard." Enzo sang.

"Look, Judgy's hot when she wants to be. Now can we please talk about something else." Damon confessed hoping that would be enough to satisfy him because he was officially done playing.

"Judgy is hot and I am deeply sorry you didn't pounce on that, the _second_ you had the chance. Because I've only seen Bonnie with clothes on and it's quite impressive, I can't imagine what she would look like with the absence of them. Well I actually I can, my imagination is quite vivid." Enzo beamed knowing very well that he was under Damon's skin slowly driving him up the walls and Damon had fallen into his trap as predicted.

"First of all don't call her Judgy that's _**my**_ thing. Second of all, if you _ever_ think about Bonnie naked or in any other way than platonic I will gladly chop your hand off again and shove it up your own ass." Damon beamed back at him knowing that if Enzo said anything else mildly irksome he would find some way to decapitate him from across the room. But Enzo's smile had fallen and not just because the pipes had begun to hiss again, alerting them of what's to come.

"You love her." Enzo stated as he just solved a puzzle.

"What?" Damon said, he knew that they could possibly be deranged due to lack of food, sleep, and the ongoing torture but Enzo had for sure lost his mind.

"You love Bonnie." Enzo restated in a way Damon's small brain could understand.

"No _I_ don't."

"Yes _you_ do."

"No. I. Don't."

"Yes. You. Do." They argued back and forth like children who haven't even entered the second grade.

"Well of course I do. She's my best friend." Until Damon sang like a canary.

"I'm one of your best friends and you don't love me the way you love her." Enzo theorized he'd highly doubt that Damon would be in shambles if Enzo was gone.

"Sure I do." Damon smirked if Enzo were stuck on the Other Side he'd fight to get him back as he would do for Stefan and Alaric and that about sums up his friend list.

"Cut the crap, Damon. You love her, I know you do." Enzo retorted casually but Damon had cut the crap.

"And what makes you think that my delusional friend?" Damon asked wondering what Enzo's crazy new theory is now.

"Because she's your-" Then the showers they so detest began to pour the poisonous water onto their already seared skin. Damon growled as he turned his head to once again cover himself as much as possible. But despite the the flesh eating water pouring onto Enzo's back through his very thin top he finished his sentence.

"Maggie."

* * *

><p>It had stopped raining a while ago, but they still sat there entwined, as the sun began to rise. Bonnie was the first one to break away from the hug as much as Kai wished he could hold her in his arms forever.<p>

"See don't you feel better?" Bonnie smiled as she searched for the answer on his face.

"No. That was excruciating it still hurts, so I really don't understand what the point of this was, other than the obvious fact that you can't keep your hands off me. But I don't blame you, me in the rain it must be hot, like Baywatch hot." Kai replied in his usual playfully condescending flirtatious talkative manner and Bonnie rolled her eyes it clearly worked because he wouldn't be babbling on like an idiot if it hadn't.

"I bet you feel lighter." Bonnie said as she slid of his lap.

"Yes, true. But that's probably because you've been sitting on top of me for like forever and as we have both previously discussed your ass is huge." Speaking of her ass Kai wanted it on top of his lap again, in fact he wanted it to make a home there, like a bird to a nest. He was just greeted with another extensive eye roll as Bonnie crossed her arms.

"Not huge. And no you feel that way because you let it all in."

"Ok lets say this _let-it-all-in theory_ is actually legitimate, why would I feel better?" Kai asked honestly.

"Sometimes you have to suffer through hell to get to heaven." Bonnie admitted as she noticed the tree skyline begin to lighten and the sky beginning to turn into a light pink. Kai took time to dwell on what she said, and for some reason the statement bothered him and he would never understand why, but it did greatly.

"Is that what you do?" Kai asked.

"Huh?" As Bonnie was busy looking at the sun rise.

"I kill myself so that I don't have to feel pain and you just, suffer through it?" Kai said perplexed, this whole method sounded terrible to him. Bonnie turned to face him again and she couldn't help the small smile playing on her lips, because Kai was a child who didn't understand the concepts of facing your problems.

"Yeah it's called being human and an adult, Kai. You deal with your problems instead of pretending they don't exist." Bonnie laughed as she turned to face the sunrise, she couldn't remember the last one she had the pleasure of enjoying considering she either slept through them with Damon or she was training with Kai. And for some reason Kai couldn't help but think of all the times Bonnie's probably done what he just did considering how many things have happened to her and it made him feel bad inside. Almost like he had drunk some rotten milk, which he hasn't tasted in years considering nothing is rotten here, other than the circumstances.

"How many times have you done this?" Kai asked wondering this would be his first and he still strongly preferred to kill himself then feel his stomach churn and his throat swell in pain like it had.

"I don't know." Bonnie answered just trying to enjoy this sunrise and not think about all the times she's had to suffer through her own pain without anyone ever knowing.

"_How many times_?" Kai found himself getting angry and he was sick of not understanding what the hell was going on with his body it was like going through puberty all over again.

"Too many to count. Now can you please shut up and enjoy this sunrise with me?" Bonnie breathed hoping he would silence himself and oblige. Kai acknowledged that she wasn't in the mood to argue despite his innate need to rebel he silenced himself and scooted over to her side so he could see what was so fascinating about this sunrise. But in his head he was still thinking "_too many to count" _which made him feel like he had swallowed even more rotten milk. He eyed her to see if she herself was experiencing any of the rotten milk phenomenon but she seemed fine as she stared at the landscape with eyes wide in admiration like he did whenever she executed a perfect kill or when he first perfected his baked alaska. Then a slight breeze tickled their ears and Bonnie rested her head on his shoulders which was still freezing from the previous rain and her hair was now starting to dry into a fuzzy mess but still she smiled because now the sky was being painted with a multitude of colors.

"What is it with girls and sunrises, I thought it was something that only happened on TV but apparently not." Kai chattered and Bonnie wished he would shut up.

"We we're totally having a Nicholas Sparks moment and you totally ruined it." Bonnie sighed as she lifted her head off his shoulder.

"Who the hell is Nicholas Sparks?" Kai questioned as another breeze flew through them causing them to both shiver and Bonnie decided it was time to shed her top.

"He's a writer who writes your basic stereotypical gushy mushy love story where the go lucky girl falls in love with the guy with a mysterious past. You'd hate him." Bonnie finished as she flung her top back into the treehouse leaving her in a bra. And honestly Kai had started off listening but that came to an end the second he saw her boobs in that bra. But to not look like a horny teenage boy which he totally was; he decided to retort not, that he really had any idea what he was saying.

"Yeah...sounds terrible. If anything we're a Stephen King novel." Kai swallowed and Bonnie just laughed as she now proceeded to take of her pants in front of him and Kai was sure he was dreaming.

"Bonnie...what..what...are you doing?" As he damn near fainted at the sight of her ass again she had such an impeccable ass.

"Taking off my clothes so that I don't get hypothermia, because I don't feel like dying right now. Come on you should do the same." Bonnie explained as she reached over to grab the bottom of his shirt and Kai got a whole lot of breasts in his face and cowered at the presence of them as she tried to yank his shirt and he pushed himself away.

"What the hell Kai, you need to take of your clothes now." Kai had no grasp of what was happening right now Bonnie was in her underwear and now she was trying to strip him down and she attempted to yank again but he scooted even further.

"Oh my god, why are you acting like such a virgin?" Bonnie giggled and Kai looked like a deer caught in headlights as his jaw set, he didn't dare look her in the eyes.

"Oh my god you are, aren't you? Honestly I would have never thought, considering how slick you think you are and the way you kiss." Bonnie laughed and Kai just watched her breasts bounce as he did and he snapped back into himself.

"Oh so you think I'm a good kisser?" Kai said scooting back towards her.

"That's not what I said." Bonnie smirked.

"That's what I heard." Kai grinned as he brought his face closer to hers.

"You only hear what you want to hear." Bonnie replied as she took the chance to take of his shirt now, before the boy died and he finally let her. When she threw his shirt to the side, Bonnie eyed his slender build he wasn't ripped or anything but he was toned and she laughed.

"What!" Kai muttered in defense.

"Oh nothing, I just can't believe you're a virgin."

"What like you're not?" Kai countered.

"I'm not." Bonnie stated and Kai's face fell in disappointment.

"Don't tell me you lost it to that pathetic boyfriend of yours that you use to ramble on about." Kai sighed as he grabbed his distorted wrist and tried to snap it back into shape.

"He is not pathetic." Bonnie said in defense as she pulled away from him.

"From the way Damon described he sure sounds like it. And didn't I hear he cheated on you with a ghost?" Kai said as he began to pull of his damp pants.

"Kai." Bonnie said gravely.

"What? Are you mad I use to listen to your endless conversations. Can you blame me, it was like watching a relentless soap opera." Kai chuckled as he reminisced about the terrible twosomes' antics.

"Kai.. what happen to you?" Bonnie hesitated to ask as she now saw his back for the very first time. He had 4 scars that ran from under his left shoulder blade to the right side of his back and one of the scars curled towards the other side of his body. And although Bonnie knew it had healed as much as it ever could, but the scars protruded from his body almost like burns permanently etched into his skin. Kai didn't understand what she was talking about until he caught her eyeline and he realized that she had never seen him like this, no one has.

"Oh that, I told you my father was the devil." Kai explained as nonchalantly as possible he really didn't want to dwell on this. Because no matter how many times his body regenerated here, it could only regenerate to the state it had entered in.

"I didn't think-" Bonnie started.

"How bout we get back to staring at that sunrise you were so adamant on watching, and resume our little Nicholas Larks moment as you called it." Kai interrupted with as innocent smile he could muster as he grabbed the duvet off the mattress so that they could wrap themselves.

"Sparks." Bonnie corrected, she could tell he didn't want to talk about it and she wasn't going to force it out of him.

"What?" Kai asked was she stating that she felt sparks because that's weird.

"_Nicholas_ Sparks." She nodded as she grabbed the duvet and plopped herself on the porch.

"Oh." Kai said as he grabbed planted himself next to her and they spread the duvet between themselves.

"Yeah." She finished as they continued to accommodate themselves by the time they were done, they looked they had been wrapped in a igloo with only their faces showing as they used the duvet as a hoodie too. Neither of them had a problem with curling and cuddling into each other under the pretense of body heat. Kai tried staring at the sunrise to see what was so damn great it was just a bunch of colors that he guessed could be classified as pretty and Bonnie just watched the confusion on his face and couldn't help but smile to herself as she turned to watch what was left of the sunrise. They were totally Nicholas Sparking. Kai shortly gave up and decided he much rather stare at Bonnie. Maybe in some way Bonnie was his sunrise, he thought. But then immediately rejected the idea this was probably exactly what Bonnie was talking about with this Sparks guy. He shook his head to clear it from this romanticism, Bonnie was just Bonnie, just a girl. Who happened to be as pretty as the sunrise. Fuck, he thought.

"How bout you tell me about the future?" Kai begged in an attempt to get out of his head.

"What do you want to know?" Bonnie grinned as they hadn't really had time to discuss the future what with all her training, which she guessed they wouldn't be doing today. Her nose wrinkled and a brow popped as she awaited his response. Correction, she was prettier than a sunrise he thought as he realized he had been gazing at her.

"Anything and everything." He recovered he wanted her to tell him everything because he loved hearing her talk even more than he loved hearing himself talk. It meant he wasn't alone, it meant someone was there.

"Well lemme see… believe it or not we have black president." Obama a monument of change.

"You're kidding." Kai thought he knew very well the Republican party would have never let that slide.

"Nope got elected into office in 2008." Bonnie smiled with pride.

"So are people done with this whole blacks are lesser than whites? Because that couldn't even be more false. If anything they are more powerful, did you know that the majority of powerful witches are people of color? If they refused this incessant need to be servants to nature, they could rule." Kai huffed at all that wasted power. Bonnie was perplexed at his sudden outburst.

"I'm not even going to touch the second half of that statement but the short answer, is yes racism is still a thing and prominent within the community." Bonnie explained with a sigh as she thought it would probably take another century for people her people to stop being killed on the streets by the police.

"Well that's stupid I was really hoping that in the future people would be smart enough to realize that all humans are the same and deserve the same basic human rights like I don't know how it's stated in the Declaration of Independence. The only being superior to them would be us, since we are witches." Bonnie was all for everything he said right until his last sentence why must he be so mad with power. But she was fascinated to see that Kai wasn't blinded by his white privilege enough to know that racism is a thing, a stupid thing.

"We also have a queen." Bonnie interjected to stop him from fuming.

"Wait are you saying we're a democracy and a monarchy?" That made no sense.

"No, it's just that we love Beyonce so much, we call her the queen." Bonnie explained.

"You mean Beyonce _Knowles_ from Destiny?" How the hell did she become queen? I mean she was good but queen good and what about Kelly Rowland?

"Wait you know about Destiny's Child?" Bonnie didn't even think they were around this time.

"Well they're still called Destiny here but they were originally called Girl's Tyme. And what about Kelly she has star potential." Bonnie's eyes were wide open, she did not expect Kai to know about Beyonce.

"What? I'm all for girl-power and the killer vocals in R&B." Kai shrugged.

"I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that you advocate for women's rights and black rights."

"You're having a hard time believing that I believe in equality for all. Christ, Bonnie I'm a murderer not an entitled elitist asshole." Kai stated clearly offended. Bonnie just wanted to get this straight that Kai the murderous sociopath believes in equality for all.

"Sorry, it's just that you have a better moral conscience than most people." Bonnie gulped as she noted how weird that sounded.

"Then that's what I'm guessing you call, sad. Now tell me how is my girl Whitney doing?" Bonnie did not answer in fact she looked suspiciously guilty.

"Don't... tell me she's dead. I just had to deal with Kurt Cobain's death and I'm still not over Freddie Mercury, Presley, and Marley. But Michael Jackson's still alive right?" He looked at with hope.

"..."

"Biggie Smalls?"

"..."

"Tupac Shakur, he's got to be alive right?" Tupac had just started so that mean she probably has a long and extensive career ahead of him, right.

"Oh come on, at this point your only naming dead people." Bonnie found it uncanny how only dead people were coming out his mouth.

"What! Are any of The Beatles even alive?" His face fell in what Bonnie could only call sadness as he thought about the loss of John Lennon.

"No! Paul and Ringo are still alive." Bonnie yelled in relief that someone he mentioned was still alive.

"Really Ringo?" Kai stated how could Ringo outlive George it wasn't fair.

"Why do you even care, Kai?" Bonnie asked Kai didn't or wasn't suppose to care about anything.

"In case you haven't noticed, music is universal. So universal it can speak to the dead." Kai finished as he referred to himself, music has the power to make anyone feel... alive. Bonnie thought about that and guessed that he was right because no matter how much Damon loved to pretend he didn't care no one could mess with his tunes whether it's Salt N' Peppa or Nine Inch Nails.

"I'm done talking about the future apparently everyone who matters is dead. Just sing me a song that gives me hope that music doesn't completely suck." He finished as his shoulders fell, and Bonnie thought Kai would commit mass genocide if he knew about Call me Maybe or It's Friday. But then she remembered the godsend that is Adele and her mind was made.

"I let it fall, my heart,

And as it fell you rose to claim it

It was dark and I was over

Until you kissed my lips and you saved me" Kai couldn't help but remember the taste of her saint-like lips against his own satanic ones. He remembered the first time it had set him on fire and the second time it had soothed him.

"My hands, they're strong

But my knees were far too weak,

To stand in your arms

Without falling to your feet

But there's a side to you

That I never knew, never knew.

All the things you'd say

They were never true, never true,

And the games you play

You would always win, always win." Bonnie sang with a laugh as she glanced at Kai at how uncanny these lyrics are. But his gaze disturbed her as he absorbed every note and riff.

"But I set fire to the rain,

Watched it pour as I touched your face,

Well it burned while I cried

Cause I heard it screaming out your name! Your name!" Bonnie finished with a small smile, awkward enough to showcase that she was weirded out by his intense gaze on her.

"Why did you stop?" He asked her without breaking away from his entrance.

"Uh-I, I don't remember the rest." She lied, Adele was her jam, every word of that song was burned into her head just like every other song of hers.

"You're lying and I don't know why." Kai stated considering he found it strange it wasn't like he was sifting through her past. He just wanted her to finish the song.

"I'm not-" Bonnie began to lie until Kai saved her from what would be a horrible lie.

"On another note, I am surprised you can sing. You're no Whitney Houston but you can carry a tune." Kai examined and Bonnie stayed stunned as she just realized what she had done, she had never sung in front of anyone before. Only the shower had ever had the honor of hearing her voice. Why had she just sung for him?

"But mostly I'm glad that there is still some hope for the future." He cracked as he looked out into the distance, sure he couldn't actually see the future. But he knew it existed that there was a place beyond where they sat, somewhere beyond the tries and the sky, and whether Bonnie liked or not he would be making his return to the land of the living soon.

* * *

><p>Ivy was once again busy writing every detail of Bonnie's life that she's learned thus far. That is until Caroline walked through the front door in yet another floral sundress and cardigan.<p>

"And what are you busy scribbling on about? Jeremy?" She asks as she pulls out blood pouches out of her bag for them.

"Eww no. He's 17." Ivy gagged as she grabbed the blood pouch, vampires are never ones to deny blood.

"So is Stefan."

"What? No he's not he's like 32." Ivy clarified since she was pretty sure.

"Mentally more like 65, but he stopped aging at 17. So did I." Caroline recalls as she forgets that they are all technically fairly young but have seen their fare share of torment.

"Oh my god, I'm wicked old. Wait how old is Damon?" As Ivy noticed that Caroline was correct.

"I think he's 24."

"Oh my god I'm so old." Caroline had just confirmed Ivy's suspicion that she was the oldest person in this gang besides Alaric and she was the one being treated like a child.

"Yeah but you look as young as the rest of us." Caroline complimented, honestly they all look fairly young but none of them actually looked like teenagers, that's for sure.

"Thankfully my asian genes run strong." Ivy laughed.

"So seriously what are you writing about?" Caroline questioned knowing full well, what she was writing about.

"Bonnie. Speaking of, I've been wanting to ask you about her but you've been really busy." Ivy smiled now seeing this as her only opportunity to pounce on her to finally get her side of who Bonnie Bennett was.

"Well I'm free right now." Caroline stated with the hopes that it's not obvious she's excited for this.

"Great, how did you two meet?" Ivy began, it was simple.

"Well actually we met in kindergarten, I had made fun of her for bringing in her teddy bear to class but in reality, I just wanted it. Well I didn't actually want it, maybe I just wanted to love something as much as she loved that beard. I forgot what that bear was called." Caroline opened up easily without even a pry.

"Miss Cuddles. When Elena met her, she had the bear with her too and Bonnie had told her that Miss Cuddles was her best friend in the whole wide world." Ivy recanted what she had learned recently and noticed that this bear mattered very much to Bonnie.

"Yeah it was, in fact I think she loved that thing more than she loved anything else especially after her mom left. But I'm pretty sure the reason we became friends was because Bonnie was always quiet and she was the only person who ever listened to me and took me seriously. And whenever she did speak it meant something, it lightened the mood or it was profound. Her words had a point she never wasted her breath and I loved that about her. Because people can talk on for hours about absolutely nothing but not Bonnie. People use to call her bubbly and in a way she was but she was always reserved and I remember always being jealous of that. Jealous of her silence, I would scream and shout and people still neglected to listen to me. Whenever Bonnie talked it was like the world stopped to listen to her. But when the Salvatores' came into town, it's like the world got louder and she got quieter so it was harder to hear her. To the point where I didn't hear her at all… I keep on waiting to hear her voice again, just like a whisper to remind she's still here. That she's still listening." Caroline began to tear up as a vampire it was very hard to keep control of your emotions. Ivy sympathized with her loss and gave her a hug.

"I don't even want her to listen. I want her to talk. I want her here so I can hear her rant about anything and everything. I want my best friend back, because without her everything lacks reason. The world could suddenly turn upside down but you could always count on Bonnie to make sense. Well, when it came to others. When it came to herself, she'd die for just about anyone. And that lacks reason, not putting her life on a pedestal like everyone else, because if she did. She'd still be here, smiling at me with her crooked smile telling me that I'm being just a tad too dramatic. But no, I'm here and she's god knows where."

* * *

><p>"So wait, what are we doing?" Bonnie lagged behind as she followed Kai through the trees she had grown familiar with.<p>

"Today we will be facing our fears. Because if you want to stay sharp you have to constantly challenge yourself." Kai stated, as he said ours as nonchalantly as possible but Bonnie caught it.

"Wait a minute, _ours_? I thought you didn't have any fears." Bonnie said with a shit eating grin.

"So did I. But you clearly showed me this morning that I am afraid of something. And the only way to end fear is by facing it." Kai explained as he focused on the task of maneuvering through the trees, they had been walking for quite awhile now.

"Wow that's… brave of you." Bonnie finished as she had been searching for a snarky comment but only came to this unsettling truth. Was it possible to be brave, when you felt absolutely nothing? Was it considered brave to be batshit crazy? Were you considered brave if you loved the pain you had to endure?

"I hardly think it's brave. It's logical. How else do you conquer something you can't do; by cowering?" Kai countered still adamantly searching for an imaginary path because everything looked exactly the same to Bonnie.

"By definition, to be brave is to be ready to face or endure danger or pain. Thus showing courage and to have courage, you must have the ability to do the thing that frightens you." Bonnie corrected him, she knew what it meant to be brave she was just unsure if they were exceptions or a subcategory for the mentally insane like Kai. Actually she was sure she was losing her mind because lately she had thought that she might be more insane than him.

"Didn't know I was talking with the Oxford English Dictionary, but of course you of all people know what brave means." Kai spoke while tilting his head listening closely as if waiting for a sign.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Bonnie questioned as she folded her arms ready to sass him at a minute's notice.

"I think you know exactly what that means." He countered as he craned his ear even further.

"No, why don't you tell me?" Bonnie smiled as she stuck her face in front of his, disrupting Kai's concentration. So he finally gave her his attention, in the hopes that she would shut up for the next five minutes and he could find what he was looking for.

"It means that you associate yourself with the very word _brave_, because you believe you embody it. I mean to die over and over and for the ones you love. And considering how afraid everyone is of death, I'm sure in _your world_ sacrificing your life is the highest form of bravery and courage there is." Kai stated hoping this conversation would come to an end. He thought he was pretty clear but he can see it in her stubborn little face they weren't done yet. And if it were up to her they would never be done. As much as she loved peace she loved to argue. And at any other time he would gladly argue back but he was concentrated at the task at hand.

"And let me guess in your world, it's not?" Bonnie said with a raise of her brow.

"Correct. In my world giving your life up for someone else is, for lack of a better word, stupid." Kai smirked hoping that she was done interrogating but he knew she wasn't going to let this go because he had wounded her ego. And as everyone knows egos are extremely fragile.

"Are you calling me stupid?" Bonnie said as her only defense, because she had nothing else.

"No in fact, you're incredibly astute. But you have done a variety of stupid things, that you believe paints you as a hero. But killing yourself isn't brave, albeit it takes immense strength to pull it off but it's far from endearing. You want to be courageous, then _live_ and _fight_ to live. Death is swift and easy but living; living is long and hard. It means being resilient in the face of doubt. You want to be brave, then live because _life,_ is the most _frightening_ thing life has to offer." Kai finished with a gaze that was no longer directed at her because he was no longer talking about her. He was talking about years and years of painful experience. His mind wandered to this morning, the thoughts they were entering his mind again. The memories. But Bonnie didn't realize any of this as she stood eerily still at the gravity of his words. She thought of every single one of her deaths and how they took something from her. But she couldn't deny that somewhere within her she did feel like a hero for doing the things she did, even though no one had asked her to die for them. She wanted to cry but she knew he would just reprimand her if she did, and make her feel weaker. Kai scrambled to get his original thought together but it took him a moment and decided to go back to her original question, he didn't want to let it all in. Not again.

"Get moving, we are trying to face your biggest fear." Kai ordered as he stepped through a break in the trees that wasn't there before. While his fear haunted him within his mind, he couldn't run from it even if he tried. He could only ignore it. He would deal with it later.

"You don't know my biggest fear." Bonnie followed trying to take back a smidge of power so that she could feel that she was in control again.

"Really? Why don't you tell me what it is." He smiled as if he already knew what her biggest fear is, but Bonnie knew that wasn't possible. As a matter of fact, he had changed his mind. He couldn't control his thoughts and arguing with Bonnie right now was a welcoming distraction.

"I can't." Bonnie replied simply as she followed after him.

"Can't or won't?" Kai asked in clarification as he once again began to listen to whatever he was looking for, keeping himself busy. Performing two tasks at once but his brain was so adept that somehow his brain still managed to think of the one thing he didn't want to think about.

"Can't, because I don't know what it is." Bonnie answered and although it was clearly sad she took great pleasure in it, because it was something he didn't know.

"I hope you're bullshitting." Kai said unphased.

"I'm not." Bonnie smiled through her teary eyes as she followed after him waiting to see what he thought her biggest fear was. But she crashed into him because Kai had stopped and sharply turned to address her with a smile on his face, a smile that made her skin crawl.

"Well then this is really funny because at this point I know more about yourself, than you do. I'm beginning to question if you know yourself at all, Bonnie Bennett." Kai said breaking the bubble of personal space as he leaned down to meet her on the ground, offering his hand. Knowing full well she wouldn't take it.

"Is that you're way of telling me you know what my biggest fear is?" Bonnie got up, sick of the grin on his face as she dusted herself off.

"Yeah it is. And not even far below the surface, you know it too. You know what fills you with dread the most. The thing that haunts you in your _nightmares_. Leaving you with only a rambunctious anxiety to accompany you. Now say it. Say your deepest fear." Kai sang as if he was a witch casting a curse upon the innocent and he might as well have been. His steel blue eyes glaring into her emerald eyes as he inched towards her. Her eyes being the only thing keeping him from losing himself into his own nightmares.

"No." Bonnie whispered as a tear fell down her face because she knew. And she knew that he had known before her. Was there anything that was just hers?

"Say it!" Kai yelled as it echoed through the woods, and if there were animals in this land they would have ran for mercy much like Bonnie wished she could do. Kai got more and more aggressive as he lost more and more control. He was going mad. Yes he was always mad, but he had never felt mad.

"Losing the ones I love the most." Bonnie's voice cracked and she couldn't help the tears.

"**Ding ding we have a winner!** I honestly didn't think it would sound that pathetic, but it does. And just so we're clear this isn't the only thing you're afraid of. Obviously you're afraid of admitting to your fears, and I'm still trying to decide whether or not you're afraid of living in general." Kai finished thinking to himself and voicing it out loud as he usually does as he found himself centimeters away from her face. Not once paying attention to the damage he had done to Bonnie. Bonnie knew there was nothing she could do about it because he didn't feel pity and if he ever did it was a soft pang that lasted only a millisecond that disappeared into nothing.

"But I mean what good is living, right?" Kai asked himself as Bonnie thought he was taunting her and then she finally saw it. The same look he had on his face this morning, he was helpless. And in a surprise turn of events Bonnie began to laugh, maniacally.

"Why are you laughing?" Kai asked, she was acting like she had the upper hand.

"Because _you're_ not in control. You never were. Neither of us are. We're broken people trying to function like we're whole." Bonnie said through tears of eerie laughter and Kai did not like what he was hearing.

"Bonnie I think you're losing your mind." Kai said to the point he almost even sounded concerned.

"No I'm right, and that scares you." Bonnie said as she walked towards him and he found himself backing away.

"Maybe I've pushed you too far. And you couldn't handle it, anymore." Kai said as he began to coax her like he had seen in the movies. He had never seen her like this.

"You did push me. But now it's time for me to push you." Bonnie responded she was done being powerless. Yeah Kai had taught her a lot of things and she was grateful for that, but he still wanted to control her in some way. It was time to level the playing field.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Kai chuckled at the challenge.

"By making you face your fears." Bonnie looked terrified and determined as she said it but he had been right, they both had to face their fears.

"What?" Kai cried in laughter, he would love to see her try. Bonnie closed the distance between them and grabbed the sides of his face and his laughter quickly dissolved. Her eyes didn't match her now sunny demeanor and the rotten milk feeling came back. Except this time it was different it was the rotten milk of fear.

"Come on _babe_, let's stroll into a nightmare." Bonnie grinned as she invaded his thoughts, and entered the confines of his tortured mind.

**Sorry, once again. This was suppose to be much longer but I had writer's block. And I'll be honest I had mapped out this chapter totally differently but these characters kinda do whatever the hell they want. The next chapter will probably be the part dos of this, since I didn't fully finish. We're finally unlocking Kai's background story. Let me know what you guys think!**


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